Kyrie Irving might need to have shoulder surgery

The Nets guard took a cortisone shot to put surgery off.

Kyrie Irving’s stint with the Brooklyn Nets is off to a terrible start. He hasn’t played basketball for them since November 14 and has missed 23 straight games due to a shoulder impingement.

Irving wasn’t expected to be out for this long, but it turns out his injury is worse than originally anticipated. The Nets guard says he’s doing “a lot better” than he was, but he’s still unable to lift his shoulder when taking jump shots.

The Nets’ point guard isn’t ruling out surgery at some point down the line, but he’s been putting it off so far by taking cortisone shots.

“I am in a better place now that it has been a significant amount of time. The next step in any progression was to either get a cortisone shot or to get surgery. That was the ultimatum I was fixed with. Now, I’m just doing the best I can to live off this cortisone and move forward if I need surgery in the future.”

Irving should take his time getting back. The Nets are currently 7th in the Eastern Conference and are in position to make the playoffs and there’s plenty of time between now and the end of the season.

Surgery seems like a viable option and it’s something Irving has clearly thought hard about. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for him to just have the surgery and shut things down for a while.

The Nets are fine — they’ve gone 12-10 since Irving went down with his shoulder injury and have managed to stay afloat. Spencer Dinwiddie also looks like he could be an All-Star this season. What they don’t need is a less-than-100% Irving coming back and jacking up shots — they’re 4-7 with him in the lineup this year.

If Irving takes the rest of this season off, he’ll be primed and ready to go once things start back up next season. Plus, he’ll have a healthy Kevin Durant by his side getting back into the swing of things too. Patience might be the best option for the Nets and their point guard here.

[jwplayer noizzRja-q2aasYxh]