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ABC7 Eyewitness News
Kyrie Irving hasn’t played since November 15 and recent news regarding his injury is leaving Nets fans with plenty of worries.
The first news we heard of this injury was after the Utah game when reports surfaced that Irving had picked up a “shoulder impingement” and was in doubt for the Denver matchup. Irving ended up toughing it out and playing through the injury, accumulating 17 points and 9 assists in 35 minutes of action. Although his passing game was at his usual best, it was clear to see his shoulder was hindering his shooting form as he shot 8-20 from the field and a below par 1-5 from 3-point range. This was the last time we saw the Nets leading scorer on the court, before he was ruled out for the Chicago game.
Unfortunately for Brooklyn, Irving has a history of being injury prone. Over his 8-year NBA career he averages a mediocre 63.5 games per season and has never played more than 75 games in a single season. Another concerning aspect of this injury is that the former Celtic hurt the same shoulder last season in December playing for Boston. As you can see below it was a very innocuous action that caused the initial injury. Although it looked very minor it did cause Irving to miss the following game as he continued treatment.
The Nets have been very coy in discussing the severity of the injury and had placed Irving on the injury report as ‘day-to-day’ up until the Sacramento game. The most recent developments to come from Brooklyn is that Irving will miss the upcoming games against New York, Cleveland and Boston. Meaning the much anticipated return game in Boston will have to be put on hold for now, much to the disappointment of Celtic fans.
Nets management have a history of downplaying injuries of their players, which is a concerning outlook for Irving. Originally playing through what had been diagnosed as a sore shoulder in Denver, to then being reported as a ‘day-to-day’ injury made it seem like a minor setback and that we would see Uncle Drew back on the court very shortly. Recent news ruling Irving out for a minimum of the next 3 games (which will bring his total tally to 7 missed games) is not a good sign of how his shoulder is recovering.
The boys at the Brooklyn Buzz recently discussed their concerns regarding Kyrie’s injury on their podcast. Their statements echo many Nets fans who are starting to worry about when their star point guard will return to the court. These same fans will have to take solace in the fact that Brooklyn has one of the most respected strength and conditioning crews in the league and that the Nets are most likely looking after Irving’s health for a push towards the playoffs later in the season.