Kyrie Irving has had enough of sitting on the sidelines. It was just announced that Irving will make his season debut against the Indiana Pacers tomorrow, January 5th. His absence to the Brooklyn Nets wasn’t a pleasant one. However, the team was still able to cruise up to a 23-11 start to their season due to the play of Kevin Durant and James Harden.
Kyrie Irving wasn’t and still isn’t vaccinated. This was the reason he has yet to step onto the court this year. At first, the expectation was that he would miss all home games but would join the organization on the road. The Nets then decided to shut him down until he became fully eligible. That changed when they suffered numerous roster issues and accepted him back regardless of vaccination status. Ironically, when Irving was first reinstated, he was placed on the NBA’s health and safety protocols list. He wasn’t able to return for at least 10 days after that.
He has been slowly ramping up to game action over the past few weeks but is now ready to hit the floor once again after a long wait. It is a road game, because he still can’t play at home, though it will be a welcome sight, nonetheless.
What to expect from Kyrie Irving?
I wouldn’t expect him to play a full 35–40-minute game as the starting point guard. Chances are that the team will take his return very slowly, maybe giving him minutes in the 20s. Unless of course, he ends up exploding at the beginning of the game and the team feels confident to leave him in for longer.
As for the Pacers, it seems like they just can’t catch a break. Despite having a talented roster, they have been wildly unlucky this season. Irving’s return only adds to that, as he could give Brooklyn the extra motivation that they need to dominate their opponent.
Any extra information regarding his season debut can be found here.
If you care to catch up on the rest of the NBA news this weekend, click the link.