The shadow of Kyrie Irving hangs over the Nets, who started the season with two wins and three losses. Will the leader return this season? Joe Tsai, the owner of Brooklyn, hopes so.
” I do not know “, he admits to ESPN when asked about the date of a return of his leader. “He needs to be vaccinated to be able to come back if the New York warrant remains in place. And don’t ask me when this mandate might change. Again, if you ask the people who make the decisions at the city level, they’re going to say they trust science, what the health department tells them. [afin de procéder]. »
No contact with Kyrie Irving since October 12
The billionaire therefore seems well aware that the mandate is unlikely to evolve in the weeks or even months to come, and that the only solution to break the deadlock is for Kyrie Irving to be vaccinated against the Covid. -19 to be able to access the Barclays Center. He thus hopes that his leader will be ” as quickly as possible “.
The problem is that the more the days go by, the more this option seems unrealistic, especially since Joe Tsai assures that he has not had any contact with his player since he announced his dismissal, October 12 …
“The last time I spoke with him was when we made the decision that he wouldn’t play until something changed”, continues the owner of the Nets. “We have not communicated since then.”
For Joe Tsai, however, it was the only possible choice.
An unmanageable sporting situation
“It’s obvious that Kyrie has her own beliefs and I respect that. But we have to make a team decision. This is a decision on where we are going as a team. And it’s just not tenable for us to have a team with a player coming in and going out, who doesn’t play home games, only away games. What can you do in training? This week we have a six-game home streak, so we won’t have Kyrie. It became very clear to us. We all agree, me, GM Sean Marks and the staff, that this is the decision to be made, especially since we are a team with big ambitions. We don’t see any other way to manage this team ”.
A strong advocate of vaccination since the start of the crisis, Joe Tsai is therefore very upset to find himself in this situation, especially since it calls into question the long-term future of Kyrie Irving at the Nets.
“I hope Kyrie can be part of the team, and register in Brooklyn in the long term”, he concludes. “But I’m not going to discuss the issue of his extension right now. I think the immediate question that needs to be answered first is whether he can play this season, and I hope he gets the shot as soon as possible. “
| Kyrie Irving | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2011-12 | CLE | 51 | 31 | 46.9 | 39.9 | 87.2 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 5.4 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 18.5 |
| 2012-13 | CLE | 59 | 35 | 45.2 | 39.1 | 85.5 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 5.9 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 22.5 |
| 2013-14 | CLE | 71 | 35 | 43.0 | 35.8 | 86.1 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 6.1 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 20.8 |
| 2014-15 | CLE | 75 | 36 | 46.8 | 41.5 | 86.3 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 5.2 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 21.7 |
| 2015-16 | CLE | 53 | 32 | 44.8 | 32.2 | 88.5 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 19.6 |
| 2016-17 | CLE | 72 | 35 | 47.3 | 40.1 | 90.5 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 5.8 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 25.2 |
| 2017-18 | BUNCH | 60 | 32 | 49.1 | 40.8 | 88.9 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 24.4 |
| 2018-19 | BUNCH | 67 | 33 | 48.7 | 40.1 | 87.3 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 5.0 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 23.8 |
| 2019-20 | BRK | 20 | 33 | 47.8 | 39.4 | 92.2 | 1.1 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 6.4 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 27.4 |
| 2020-21 | BRK | 54 | 35 | 50.6 | 40.2 | 92.2 | 1.0 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 6.0 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 26.9 |
| Total | 582 | 34 | 47.0 | 39.1 | 88.1 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 22.8 | |
