Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving might finally play but when is his return date?
The Brooklyn Nets are in a tough spot right now. They have had a rocky start to their 2022-23 NBA season. The Nets are (7-9) and stand 11th in the Eastern Conference. However, a badly performing team is the least of the Nets’ worries.
Ever since the offseason, the Nets are trapped in several conflicts. From Kevin Durant requesting a trade to not trading for good players, the Nets made a mess of themselves. The conflicts and controversies doubled up once the regular NBA season began.
A few weeks back, the Brooklyn Nets’ head coach, Steve Nash was fired. Now, Jacque Vaughn is serving as the Nets’ head coach. To add more problems, the Nets are suffering knee-deep in injury problems. Most of the Nets roster is out due to injuries.
Meanwhile, Ben Simmons serves as the most unreliable player ever. His inconsistent performances do not help Brooklyn’s case at all. Also, he comes on and off with a problematic back injury.
All-Star Kevin Durant is the only player who is solo pulling the Nets’ burden. He is putting up stellar performances every night, hoping and praying to achieve a win.
On the other hand, the most problematic asset for the Brooklyn Nets has been NBA champion Kyrie Irving. For quite some time now, Kyrie Irving stands suspended from playing.
On Thursday, the Brooklyn Nets completed their four-game West Coast trip. The Nets completed their road trip with a convincing 107-109 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
However, Kyrie Irving missed his eighth consecutive game on Thursday. This is because on November 3 the Brooklyn Nets issued Irving a five-game minimum suspension.
The five-game minimum suspension was slapped upon Kyrie because he repeatedly refused to apologize for posts linking to an antisemitic film.
However, after the suspension, Irving issued an apology on Instagram. The Nets accepted the apology but set up conditions before Kyrie could return to play.
Brooklyn Nets set up Kyrie with six-outlined steps that Irving must complete before returning. The requirements included a spoken apology condemning the film, a $500,000 donation to anti-hate causes, sensitivity, and antisemitic training, as well as meetings with the ADL, Jewish leaders, and Nets owner Joe Tsai.
Meanwhile, players like LeBron James and Jaylen Brown took issue with the ‘six-outlined steps.’ Notably, Jaylen is also the NBPA VP.
On Kyrie’s behalf, it was reported that the players union could file a grievance if Irving and Brooklyn could not agree on a return date.
On Wednesday, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that all the parties involved with Kyrie’s suspension are finding an active solution. The party also included the Players Union.
Then on Thursday, Wojnarowski hinted that the NBA and Brooklyn Nets are satisfied with the steps that Irving has taken to rectify the situation.
Now, Shams Charania has reported that Kyrie Irving is expected to return as soon as Sunday. The Brooklyn Nets will face the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night.
Interestingly, the Nets are (5-3) without Kyrie. The situation of the Nets might improve if Kyrie is back on their roster.
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