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Kyrie's basketball legacy not as important as his personal beliefs


 Team sports are all about sacrifice. I'm the last one to tell anyone what to put in their body, period. When you're Novak Djokovic, of course you're letting down your fans and those expecting you to rewrite major tennis history at this year's Australian Open.

But for Kyrie Irving, his decision to remain unvaccinated has far reaching consequences beyond an individual sport such as tennis.

Djokovic's choice impacts his own legacy, while Irving's impacts not only that but his team's championship pursuit.

Team sports are predicated on sacrifice including: minutes, money, recognition, family time and off the court pursuits.

Players aiming to win a title often throw themselves  full bore into that cause for the betterment of the team and to inspire teammates.

Irving is considered a team leader, a source of inspiration for the locker room and without saying, one of the team's most dynamic players. So when Kyrie indicates he's no closer to complying with local vaccine mandates than he was back when training camp opened in July, while it's not unexpected for a player dug in firmly on his stance, it makes you wonder whether he's putting himself and his own beliefs ahead of the team?

Irving cannot be the only individual or NBA player with reservations about the vaccine and each person should be judged on a case by case basis, but the Nets' guard still hasn't made it clear why he's unwilling to join the rest of his teammates in a full-time capacity.

At the end of the day, the choice is Irving's and his alone, but with every choice there are consequences. Assuming things stay status quo, despite the Omicron variant spiking and now on the downturn, the Nets can't rely on Irving to help carry them to the promise land.

The New Jersey native convinced Durant to join his childhood team and bring a first ever championship to the club. Without Irving, there is no Durant, but when faced with a conundrum of sacrificing personal belief for the betterment of the team, Irving has landed on the side of doing what's best for him.

Where that leaves the Nets this season remains to be seen. Will they bow out of the second round of the playoffs again with Kyrie at home on his couch during a decisive Game 7 at Barclays Center?

Will they hoist the Larry O'Brien in Brooklyn without Irving there to enjoy the fruits of the team's labor. This is a bizarre situation that has no end in sight, so while it's fine to defend to the death an individual's right to choose, there comes with that real consequences and in a team sport, the team should come ahead of the individual. For Irving, that hasn't been the case over the course of his career and certainly isn't the case now.


Kevin Durant's injury doesn't mean his MVP stock will crash

photo by Doug Bearak


Kevin Durant is the leader in the clubhouse to win the NBA's MVP award. Leading the league at 29.3 points per contest and shooting a blistering 52 percent from the field for a perimeter-oriented player is nothing short of extraordinary.

So for critics suggesting that Durant, who will likely be sidelined 4-6 weeks with a sprained MCL in his left knee, could fall out of MVP contention just by the mere fact that he's missing games is utterly ridiculous.

By the timeline that most are estimating, Durant could miss 20-30 games depending on his rehab.

Is it fair to penalize a player for missing less than a quarter of a season when the body of work throughout this campaign and his entire career speaks for itself?

Not to mention his biggest threat, Steph Curry, has seen his scoring take a precipitous fall after injuring his hand and despite his fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson returning to the team.

Among the leading candidates for MVP, Durant's injury won't preclude him for hitting the ground running when he returns to the court and it's realistic to think he'll pick up right where he left off in no time. 

So while Durant's detractors will point to his injury as a reason to bump him out of the MVP conversation, those who know and follow the game, know who the real MVP is this year.

Kyrie on vaccination status: 'I made my decision and I'm standing on it'




One thing is clear, no outside pressure or influence is going to sway Kyrie Irving to change his vaccination stance. Even Kevin Durant's injured left knee and Joe Harris still working back from shoulder surgery won't sway Irving off his decision.

'I made my decision and I'm standing on it", Irving told beat reporters following the Nets loss in Cleveland.

 

The Nets reversed course on their preseason decision to preclude Irving from being a part-time player, but don't count on the Nets' point guard pivoting on his vaccination choice.

Brooklyn's GM Sean Marks will need to be active ahead of the February trade deadline anticipating Irving will only be available for road games and Durant and Harris likely only with the team for the final 4-6 weeks of the regular season coming off injury.

As Omicron cases hit a peak last week, public health officials are cautiously optimistic that the country and world at large is through the worst of the latest spike in cases from the variant.

This doesn't mean that there's an imminent change to vaccine mandates in public spaces within New York City, but it leaves open the possibility that Irving can return in a full capacity as it's clear he's not budging from his decision.

Joe Harris takes major step forward in return to Nets after ankle surgery




Nba.com

 Finally, a positive update on the injury front for the Brooklyn Nets as Joe Harris has been cleared for light shooting and made the trip with the Nets to Cleveland on MLK day, according to head coach Steve Nash.

Harris underwent ankle surgery on November 29 and was expected to miss 4-8 weeks. Brooklyn is right in the middle of that recovery timeframe and Nash indicated that Brooklyn's sharpshooter is making progress and starting on court work. 



The Nets did not issue a single update on Harris' progress since late-November, so while he's not quite practicing with the team, this encouraging news will help ease the loss of Kevin Durant for the next 4-6 weeks.

Nash has turned to a trio of rookies in Cam Thomas, Kessler Edwards and Day'Ron Sharpe to shoulder significant minutes with the team shorthanded.

James Harden and Kyrie Irving as a part-time road star, will need to elevate their games.

The more healthy bodies in the rotation, the better likelihood the Nets will remain near the top of the Eastern Conference, even with Durant on the shelf until at least after the All-Star Break.

Basketball Gods not shining down on Nets' Big 3

photo by Doug Bearak

It seems as though a greater force is preventing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden from taking the court together. 

 Brooklyn's Big 3 is 13-3 playing together and 59-35 when missing at least one head of the three-headed monster. Playing just 14.5 percent of 110 possible games is not something that GM Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash envisioned for the superstars. 

 Even before Harden's arrival, Durant missed the 2019-2020 campaign rehabbing his Achilles injury and Irving played in just 20 games before undergoing shoulder surgery. Don't mention to Nets fans the shuffling on and off the injury report for Harden and Durant last year, while Irving missed time due to personal reasons. 

Harden re-aggravated his hamstring in Game 1 of the 2021 NBA playoff semifinal round against Milwaukee before returning for the final three games of the series seriously hampered by the setback.

 Irving suffered a serious ankle injury in Game 4 and missed the remainder of the playoffs. Optimism was running high heading into 2021 Nets training camp that finally the three amigos would stay healthy and eligible, but Irving's refusal to comply with New York City's vaccine mandates forced him to miss the first 39 contests of this year. 

 Now just when Irving is cemented as a part-time player and optimism growing that either he will warm to the idea of getting vaccinated or mandates will be loosened or lifted this spring, Durant will miss 4-6 weeks with a MCL sprain in his left knee. Bad luck is one thing, but when a franchise that has often been snakebitten throughout its history, fans can't but wonder if this simply another chapter in a cursed story?

 Brooklyn's championship window is in Year 2 with no guarantee that Harden or Irving will re-sign as both are set to become free agents. The reality is that the arrow is still pointing up at a potential first NBA championship for the Nets and perhaps the sun will finally shine on this hard luck organization

Nets need to play long game and hold KD out until after All-Star Break

 

WikiCommons

Kevin Durant is everything to the Brooklyn Nets. The gifted 7-footer is the heartbeat of the team and his health and well being should be a top priority.

The Nets are notoriously tight-lipped discussing injuries with the media and need to remain ultra conservative with the timeline for his return to the court whether an MRI confirms a knee sprain or even a better prognosis.

Sans Kyrie Irving until this past week, Durant's minutes were getting out of control this season and even Steve Nash admitted that his workload needed to be curtailed and urged his star to take more rest days.


With over three weeks until the All-Star break and a road heavy schedule where Irving will be eligible to play alongside Harden, Durant's next game should not come until February 24 against the Celtics.

As Nash knows better than anyone, Durant is a gamer and wants to play every minute of every game. Brooklyn is learning it needs to protect Durant from himself and this instance is a perfect example.

Irving and Harden can hold down the fort in his absence and the Nets can play the long game and hold Durant out as an extra precaution.

Brooklyn holds collective breath as KD to undergo MRI on injured knee

 


The Brooklyn Nets played arguably their best home game of the season, a place they're a middling 11-11, but the biggest storyline to emerge from Saturday's win over New Orleans is that Kevin Durant exited in the second quarter in what the team classified as a knee sprain.

After Bruce Brown crashed into Durant's knee, causing it to hyperextend, the Nets' power forward tried to shake off the injury before signaling to the bench and walking off the court with play still going on.

Durant is scheduled for an MRI, and while it appears as though he's avoided a major injury, watching the franchise leave the game in that fashion and undergo further testing, is concern enough for Nets' fans.

Brooklyn travels to Cleveland on MLK day, with Kyrie Irving and James Harden expected in the starting lineup, but the biggest star of the Big 3 will not play and now the question remains how much time with Durant miss?

The All-Star break is a little more than three weeks away, so it's  plausible, the Nets could hold Durant out until after the break.


Nets must inquire about this player ahead of NBA Trade Deadline

NBA.com
 

The Houston Rockets have overcome a disastrous start to the season but are still heading nowhere fast. Stephen Silas' group jumped out of the gate with a 1-16 start and currently sit at an improved mark of 12-31 yet are not even within an earshot of a playoff spot. 

The Rockets will be sellers ahead of the February trade deadline and the Nets, despite holding claim to the NBA's most efficient offense in league history last season, are struggling to produce points against elite teams. 

No timetable has been given for Joe Harris' return from ankle surgery and Kyrie Irving's part-time status is helping fill the scoring void, but not entirely. 

Enter Eric Gordon, who is in the final year of a four-year, $75.6 million deal he signed in 2019. At 33, Gordon is still chasing an NBA title. Gordon was James Harden's running mate in Houston for several title pushes that fell short, but he remained loyal to the organization through the rebuild. 

Gordon was less than complimentary regarding Harden's unceremonious exit from the Rockets, but if R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish can patch up a rocky relationship from their time with Duke, now as teammates on the Knicks, so too can Harden and Gordon in Brooklyn. 

The Rockets' shooting guard is averaging 14.8 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range. 

Harris' return to the Nets is still up in the air and its clear Brooklyn is missing a knockdown perimeter shooter to space the floor and creative driving lines for Harden, Irving and Kevin Durant to attack the paint. 

Gordon is also an underrated defender and has playoff battle scars from several deep Western Conference Finals runs with Houston. With still heavy money and two more years left on his current deal, the Rockets are very likely to try and move him and will have a modest asking price to take on that type of contract for an aging sharpshooter. 

For the likes of Brooklyn, Golden State and Phoenix, Gordon makes a ton of sense. The leader in the clubhouse from a fit standpoint remains the Suns as he'd reunite with Chris Paul and flourish in that offensive system, but with ownership turmoil in the Valley of the Sun and organization's refusal to extend big man Deandre Ayton, Gordon might land elsewhere. Depending on interest in Gordon, he could be a buyout candidate as his most productive years are behind him. 

 Nets' GM Sean Marks has been very creative around the trade deadline to improve the team and given the heavy minutes Harden and Durant have amassed, an inconsistent supporting cast and Irving being ineligible for home games, netting a perimeter defender like Gordon with a smooth shooting stroke is something to strongly consider in Brooklyn. 

Nets' Big 3 damn nearly unbeatable when healthy, but that never seems to be the case

             Photo by Doug Berak

The Brooklyn Nets are 13-3 when Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving take the floor together and 59-35 when at least one superstar is sidelined. 

The reality may be sinking in that a combination of age, overusage and injury might prevent fans from seeing the ultimate version of the Big 3 that many anticipated. Whether it's hamstring strains, COVID-19 protocols, compliance with local vaccine mandates, missing time for personal reasons and a multitude of other issues, the Nets are, in fact, hardly ever whole. In the tiny sample size as a complete unit, Brooklyn has shown glimpses of being a dynastic group and deserving of the title as the odds-on favorite to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

 As the Nets found out in the 2021 NBA Playoffs, championships are not won on paper. Steve Nash has been dealt a hand of three Aces, but when he's unable to play his best cards, the Nets' bench and supporting cast has been exposed. Despite the emergence of a trio of talented rookies in Cam Thomas, Kessler Edwards and David Duke, the win-now Brooklyn Nets are now just 1-8 against the top-four seeds in each conference and even after shellacking the East's top club in the Bulls on Wednesday night, two-thirds of the Big 3 was sidelined in a lopsided loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday. Just when Brooklyn appears to be building momentum, camaraderie and chemistry, something pops up that disrupts that progress. The Nets are their own worst enemy. 

When Nash's crew is locked in on both sides of the ball, compliant with local vaccine mandates and perhaps most importantly, healthy, there are only a handful of teams who can hang with the group labeled "Scary Hours". The Nets are halfway through the regular season, Irving has played in merely three games, Durant's minutes are at an all-time high and Harden took nearly 30 games to start resembling the player who carried the Nets for stretches of the 2020-2021 season. The NBA All-Star break is less than a month away and Brooklyn needs to get its ducks in a row if it hopes to ramp things up in time for a championship pursuit. 

Keeping the Big 3 healthy, developing chemistry with the supporting cast, while not overtaxing them with heavy minutes should be on Nash's mind throughout the remainder of the year. As the numbers show, the Nets are one of the most talented Big 3's the league has ever seen, but unless they're whole in more aspects than one, this team may fall short of its tremendous upside.

Harden quips about Irving's eligibility for future Nets' home games

This global pandemic is no joke matter. The COVID-19 Omnicron variant is spreading like wildfire across all corners on the globe. Now with unvaccinated Kyrie Irving back on the court for Nets' road games after the team reversed course on its preseason decision to preclude him from being a part-time player, the attention has turned to the point guard's eligibility to play in home games. James Harden, clearly being facetious with the media, who has harping on this issue, joked he would take matters into his own hands. With a report from the New York Daily News suggesting that New York City's local vaccine mandate has a loophole where the Nets' could allow Irving to play by paying a nominal fine. The first violation amounts to a warning followed by $1,000, $2,000 and $5,000 fines to infinity for all future violations. For billionaire owner Joseph Tsai, the financial penalty is hardly anything at all, but what kind of message does that send to fellow New Yorkers that money can simply buy an unvaccinated individual a Golden Ticket into a vaccinated palace? How far are the Nets willing to go to make a sure a key piece of the championship puzzle is in place? Time will tell, but Brooklyn earned an impressive 138-112 blowout win at the United Center over the top-seeded Chicago in Wednesday with Irving eligible and in the starting lineup.
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