We’ve all been in that spot that Kyrie Irving is in right now. You know the one.
For you, it’s that moment where you start to feel sick or you realize something isn’t 100% right with your health. But you keep chugging through because you’ve got “things” to do other than being sick.
That’s exactly how Irving has handled his shoulder injury all season long and it’s finally come back to bite him. He played through his ailment as much as he could. Irving was reportedly considering surgery last month — he opted to take cortisone shots instead.
And, now, guess what? He re-aggravated the shoulder and is once again considering shoulder surgery, reports say, and he’ll be out for an “extended period of time.”
Nets star Kyrie Irving is likely to undergo procedure on his right shoulder and miss extended period of time, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 20, 2020
According to ESPN, Irving is expected to decide whether or not to have surgery in the coming days.
That worst case scenario Irving was trying to avoid? That’s his reality now. He probably won’t play basketball for the rest of the season or whatever “an extended period of time” is. The Nets’ season is pretty much over — they should probably tank. They won’t have their best two players until next year.
That’s all fine, by the way. The problem is that literally anybody could’ve seen this coming. Irving should’ve opted for surgery a long time ago.
Had he opted for surgery in December or early January when he realized he couldn’t lift his shoulder, maybe he’d still be able to play by the end of the year. Maybe there’s still a playoff push the Nets can make in that scenario — it is the Eastern Conference we’re talking about, after all. But Irving never gave himself that chance.
We can all understand wanting to be available for your team and wanting to play your part as a leader, but we’ve seen players’ careers derailed by operating that way. As a Wizards fan who has watched John Wall’s career, I can attest. Playing through pain got him to the point he’s at now.
Irving doesn’t want to be in that boat. It’s good that he’s finally taking a step back and doing what needs to be done — even if he’s a bit late to the party. Being ready for the future is far more important than getting a bucket tomorrow.
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