To have Kyrie Irving, or to not have Kyrie Irving.
For the moment, it’s looking as if the Brooklyn Nets will not have the star point guard’s services for more than half of the games during the upcoming regular season, plus practices while the team is at home. Despite this reality, Nets players sound undeterred in their goal of winning the next NBA championship.
On Wednesday at practice, Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris weighed in about how the team’s goal remains the same.
“The goal is still the same. I mean, you go through the course of the season, guys go down, get hurt but … it’s still about the process,” Harris said. “Trying to improve every day in practice with the guys that you have. Our aspirations and goals, none of that has shifted. Regardless of who is here and who is available, we practice with the guys that we have. That’s the focus.”
Harris went on to say that the team is not fractured by Irving’s circumstances.
“With Ky’s situation, obviously, we support him. Whatever decisions that are made, that’s for him personally. But we support him as a team either way. … He’s still a part of the Brooklyn Nets. He’s still a part of this family, and none of that has changed.”
Harris, who led the Nets with 69 games played in 72 opportunities in 2020-21, is ready to leave his mark. He averaged 14.1 points per game last season while shooting a league-best 47.5% on 3-pointers. The sharpshooter recently was ranked as the 75th-best player in the league by ESPN.
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