Brooklyn
https://www.nba.com/nets/Kyrie Irving
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/irvinky01.htmlCBS Sports (click for full article)
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/kyrie-irving-to-rejoin-nets-part-time-what-to-know-as-all-star-returns-for-games-outside-new-york-and-toronto/When will Irving make his season debut?
That is still unclear, as Irving has a few hurdles to clear before he's deemed ready to play. First and foremost, he'll have to pass through the league's health and safety protocols, which include stringent COVID-19 testing. Per Wojnarowski, Irving will have to test negative five days in a row before he is allowed to rejoin the team, and will have to undergo daily testing as an unvaccinated player.
Beyond that, the Nets will have to assess Irving's conditioning level. While he's surely been working out and staying in shape on his own, there's a big difference between individual workouts and being in game shape, and the last time Irving suited up for an NBA game was Game 4 of the Nets' second-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks in June.
We also know that Irving will only be allowed to play in road games in the United States, and only certain road games at that. For example, he cannot play against the New York Knicks due to the city's mandate, and he also cannot play against the Toronto Raptors. Unvaccinated players will be prohibited from traveling to Canada starting on Jan. 1.
All of that makes it difficult to predict exactly when Irving might be on the court again. The Nets have a three-game road trip starting on Dec. 23, but that is likely to be too soon for Irving. After they return, the Nets will have just two road games -- Jan. 5 vs. the Indiana Pacers and Jan. 12 vs. the Chicago Bulls -- over the first two weeks of January.
One of those games could be targeted, but per Wojnarowski, Irving's return "isn't expected quickly."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORH6yvudjaAESPN: Adrian Wojnarowski joins Kendrick Perkins, Mike Greenberg, Michael Wilbon and Jalen Rose on NBA Countdown to discuss the Brooklyn Nets bringing back Kyrie Irving as a part-time player, when the timetable is for his return and why the Nets are investing now to win an NBA championship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNrT1RkTKmYFox Sports Radio: THE ODD COUPLE- Chris Broussard & Rob Parker react to news that Brooklyn Nets intend to bring back Kyrie Irving part-time.
Comments
Less than a day after deciding to bring Kyrie Irving back as a part-time player, the Brooklyn Nets saw their roster become further decimated with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving entering the NBA's health and safety protocols on Saturday.
Nets general manager Sean Marks said the decision to bring Irving back, reversing course after deciding on Oct. 12 that the team would not have him as a part-time player but would welcome him back when he complied with New York City's vaccine mandate, was prompted by the current circumstances that have ravaged the Nets' roster.
"The overall environment has changed as we've all known, drastically," Marks said before Saturday's game against the Magic. "I walked to the arena today, and there's several lines out there for COVID testing, and there's 200, 300 people waiting in line to be tested. So the environment's changed. COVID has done a number on the team and on society in general, so that's certainly changed. Managing our overall player load, that's something we've gotta be aware of throughout the course of this season. We've seen large minutes that our guys have had to endure and play, and we've gotta look at what's best for the team over the course of the season."
Marks added: "Several months ago, we made a decision that was based around what was best for the team. What was best for the team at that point was continuity, and I think we all see that continuity right now, over the course of the last week, and whatever the future looks like may be out of the window for a while."
Marks said he has not spoken to Irving yet about whether the point guard is open to getting vaccinated down the road now that he is rejoining the team.
"I have not talked to Kyrie about vaccination status," Marks said. "I don't think that's been appropriate right now. The times I've gone to see him, these are about forming bonds and forming friendships and having conversations about the family, sometimes basketball and so forth. Like sometimes, Steve [Nash] has mentioned in the past that he's talked [to Irving], but they never really talk about basketball, you know? We're trying to continue that camaraderie and so forth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN9Q1JhUT8s
SNY: Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks and Head Coach Steve Nash each discuss why the team's philosophy changed regarding accepting Kyrie Irving back as a part-time player. Nash: "I think it's important for all of us to use all the resources we have to navigate the season." Both men stressed that originally, keeping Irving on the sidelines was for the sake of continuity but "that's all gone out the window now."
Kyrie Irving will not join the Brooklyn Nets on their two-game road trip to Southern California.
Irving entered the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols shortly after agreeing to a return to the Nets for road games.
Irving has to ramp up once he's cleared. The Nets haven't seen Irving on the court yet.
"No, we haven't," Nash said, when asked if he has seen Irving on the court yet. "He's still in protocols. And he needs ramp up, so we won't see Kyrie on this trip."
After these two upcoming games in Los Angeles, the Nets are not on the road again until Jan. 5 at Indiana. After that, they don't play another road game until Jan. 12 at Chicago.
Irving could make his debut On Jan. 17th at Cleveland.
ESPN https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32993952/can-kyrie-irving-play-wednesday-here-games-watch-brooklyn-nets-star-returns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLACwUdSq1g
Game Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbeYGZ63SA4
Post Game Presser