The hits keep coming for the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets are already without Kevin Durant for the entire 2019-20 season as he rehabs a torn Achilles injury and Wilson Chandler for the first 25 games of the year due to a suspension for PED use. Now, it has been reported All-Star Kyrie Irving has suffered a facial fracture and will be day-to-day.
Brookyn’s Kyrie Irving has been diagnosed with a left side facial fracture and will be day-to-day.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 25, 2019
General manager Sean Marks told media yesterday that Irving was hit by an inadvertent elbow during a pickup game. As a result, Irving’s availability for the start of Brooklyn’s training camp on Friday is now in question.
Irving was the prized acquisition of the Nets offseason, the carrot that enticed Durant to spend the third act of his NBA career in Brooklyn. But Irving has dealt with repeated injuries throughout his career, dating back to his one year at Duke. He missed most of his lone collegiate season with a toe injury, dealt with a fractured kneecap during his first NBA Finals appearance in 2015 that led to a subsequent knee surgery in 2018, and has had previous facial injuries in both Cleveland and Boston.
The six-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA guard is assuredly one of the brightest talents in the league at point guard, but he is also among the most brittle.
The Nets traded D’Angelo Russell, their starting point guard last season, but still have Spencer Dinwiddie on the roster as a backup one as well as rookie Jaylen Hands out of UCLA. It looks like Irving’s injury isn’t serious enough to rule him out of game action just yet, even if he may have to wear a mask upon his return.
