It will ultimately chew the Nets within the ass

Kyrie Irving is again with the Nets however that doesn’t imply a fairy story ending to the season is assured

Irving made his long-awaited return to the courtroom for the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday towards the Indiana Pacers and performed a major position of their 129-121 victory. However with Irving carrying the label of part-time participant as he stays unvaccinated and may’t play in New York Metropolis, I simply don’t see how this state of affairs doesn’t finish in catastrophe for the Nets.

Irving didn’t appear to have numerous rust to shake off as he scored 22 factors on 9 of 17 from the sphere in 32 minutes towards Indiana. However after one sport, he’s now going to overlook the following two in Brooklyn when the Nets host Milwaukee then San Antonio. That is how it will likely be the remainder of the season and nevertheless lengthy the Nets play within the postseason.

Excluding Kevin Durant, I’m positive different gamers in that locker room are holding onto some kind of resentment behind the staff’s present state of affairs. Irving is ready to double-dutch, hoping out and in of the lineup for the remainder of the season. Loads of other players had reservations concerning the COVID-19 vaccination however determined to do what they felt was wanted beneath the circumstances. Most of these gamers don’t possess the clout of Kyrie, nor do they trigger the fixed consternation that comes together with No. 11.

Nets head coach Steve Nash joked after the sport concerning the first offensive play being drawn up for Kyrie as a “welcome again reward.” Nash gained’t say this publicly, however I’d be keen to guess he’s been over the entire Kyrie Irving expertise. I imply, you possibly can even see a couple of extra grey hairs popping up on coach’s head over the previous yr and alter. And Irving by no means thought Brooklyn wanted Nash or any coach to start with.

The most important take a look at for the Nets, and this part-time participant experiment, gained’t come till the postseason. There’ll come a time when the Nets have a pivotal residence sport in a collection that Irving can’t take part in. We’ll see how cool everyone seems to be about all this at that time, particularly if James Harden continues to be taking part in the best way he has most of this yr, as he’s taking pictures nicely beneath his regular percentages from the sphere and from three. Irving’s part-time standing isn’t completely unprecedented within the NBA, nevertheless. Terry Dischinger played part-time for the Chicago Zephyr’s (now the Washington Wizards) in the course of the 1962-63 season. Totally different circumstances, however nonetheless a part-time participant.

It might not seem to be it to some, however this back-and-forth from the staff factor with Irving is prone to meet up with Brooklyn on the most inopportune time. Think about a Nets-Golden State Warriors NBA Finals in June. The unvaccinated Irving wouldn’t be capable of play in a single sport of that collection until one thing adjustments in both New York Metropolis or San Francisco by that point. However the Nets re-evaluated the state of affairs and determined to return on their preliminary resolution to take a seat Irving down for the yr. Now they’ve acquired no alternative however to stay with the results for higher or worse.