The Brooklyn Nets were, once again, without Kyrie Irving on Monday due to an injury. The point guard suffered a medial ligament sprain in his right knee in Saturday’s loss to the Washington Wizards when he got tangled up with Bradley Beal.
With Irving’s re-evaluation set for a week from when he suffered the injury, the point guard is set to miss a week’s worth of games. And he’s missed a large chunk of the season, already — mostly because of his right shoulder impingement.
Some might argue the Nets should be careful with how much they play Irving for the remainder of 2019-20, given the injuries he has dealt with and the idea 2020-21 is supposed to be Brooklyn’s big year with Kevin Durant waiting in the wings. On Monday, Jackie MacMullan made that very case on ESPN’s “The Jump.”
But there are others who feel it’s important for Irving to play, like Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen:
It is really about next year [for the Nets]. But, for me, I think it’s still about this season. Because I think this is for the first time, since post-LeBron [James], that Kyrie’s in a situation where he can call a team his own team. And I think it’s come from him being on the basketball court. Being around these young players. His presence, his chemistry, his leadership. And I know you guys have seen it over the last few weeks that these guys are really excited to have him back on the basketball court. And I think it’s going to be important for him to continue this. Because, next season, having KD back is just going to be a plug-in. It’s not going to be new guys coming to join the Brooklyn Nets.
The idea of playing Irving in as many games possible but Brooklyn limiting his minutes was proposed to Pippen. He replied, “I would leave it up to Kyrie.”
Pippen also doesn’t feel Irving’s injuries will “pull him back” — which the NBA great feels is important for the development of this team:
I think Kyrie is a guy [who] his leadership is through his play. He leads more by example. … It’s important for him to be on the court and be playing.