Exactly one week after returning to the Nets facility to practice for the first time since the NBA regular season began, Kyrie Irving is expected to return to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 5, as the Nets visit the Indiana Pacers, according to a report from Shams Charania.
Irving, who recently said he wasn’t “prepared” to live with the basketball consequences of rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine, has watched his team get off to a 23-11 start to the season, currently good for second place in the Eastern Conference.
Unless Irving becomes fully vaccinated to comply with a local New York City mandate, he will be restricted to playing in road games for the rest of the regular season and the duration of the playoffs.
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is expected to make his season debut Wednesday on the road against the Indiana Pacers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. After missing the Nets’ first 35 games of the season, Irving has targeted Wednesday for his return.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 3, 2022
The Nets have seven upcoming road games in January. Following Wednesday’s trip to Indiana, the Nets will return home for games against the Bucks and Spurs, before heading to Chicago on Jan. 12. The team will begin a four-game road trip on Jan. 17, with stops in Cleveland, Washington, San Antonio and Minneapolis, and will later play the Warriors on the road in a must-see game on Saturday, Jan. 29.
It remains to be seen if Steve Nash will immediately insert Irving into the starting lineup, but Irving has started ever game he’s ever played in the NBA.
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