The Brooklyn Nets have gone 4-3 in their last seven games as they are starting to get back on track after opening the NBA season 2-6. That stretch of improved play coincides with when point guard Kyrie Irving was suspended by the team.
Irving was suspended for at least five games for not unequivocally denouncing the contents of an anti-semitic film that he shared on his Twitter account. The Nets and NBA had given Irving numerous chances to take the post down and apologize but he refused. As a result, he was handed a suspension by the franchise.
The game against the LA Clippers Saturday, November 12th was the fifth game that Irving was sidelined for, but he also missed the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. It sounds as if he will be sidelined for at least the duration of their road trip, which means the next time we may see Irving on the court with his teammates is November 20th when the Nets host the Memphis Grizzlies at the Barclays Center.
The Nets laid out a list of things they want him to do before considering him for reinstatement and it sounds like he has begun that process as well. He has met with Nets’ owner Joe Tsai and his wife, which is at least a step in the right direction.
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He has been in touch with some of his teammates, such as Kevin Durant, throughout the process as well. Over the weekend, Durant revealed that Irving’s spirits are high despite being away from the team.
“Looking forward to playing the game, you know Ky, he’s a gamer, he loves to play,” Durant said after Saturday’s 110-95 win over the LA Clippers. “So hopefully all this stuff is over with, we can move past it and get him back on the floor soon.”
When they will get him back on the court is anyone’s guess. Things seem to be moving toward a resolution, but it isn’t something that Durant and his teammates are concerned with as they know there isn’t anything they can do.
“That’s been out of our control. And as players we try to lock in on the game, practices,” Durant said. “So we just try to lock in and whenever that figures itself out, it will. That’s over a lot of our heads right now so we just got to control what we can.”
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Even head coach Jaque Vaughn has no idea when Irving will be back in the fold. He has been leading the Nets during this stretch without their starting point guard, taking the place of Steve Nash, who mutually agreed to part ways with the franchise after a 2-5 start.
“Joe put out that statement [Friday],” Vaughn said. “It kind of shows where the collaboration and alignment is right now. I have no update on a timetable at all.”
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The sooner this suspension concludes, the sooner that everyone can put this situation behind them. The Nets have dealt with a ton of distractions the first month of the season and would benefit from getting to focus solely on the basketball court for once.
