Kyrie Irving’s return to the Brooklyn Nets has so far not yielded the positive results they had hoped it would. Irving has been unable to participate in home games thanks to his unvaccinated status and the lack of rhythm along with other issues the team is facing has led them to an 11-game losing streak and seen them drop to the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Nets have struggled following KD’s injury and tensions with Kyrie in part is what seems to have led James Harden to look for a move away. However, Irving doesn’t think that there is anything for him to feel guilty about considering that circumstances would be different for him in most other states apart from New York.
Kyrie says he doesn't feel guilty when he's away from Nets. "There's no guilt that I feel. I'm the only player that has to deal with this in New York City because I play there. If I was anywhere else in another city then it probably wouldn't be the same circumstances."
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) February 13, 2022
“There’s no guilt that I feel. I’m the only player that has to deal with this in New York City because I play there. If I was anywhere else in another city then it probably wouldn’t be the same circumstances.”
Irving has participated in 14 of 21 games since he was allowed to return by the Nets but has failed to really get himself or the team going. He is yet to play more than 5 consecutive games for the Nets this season and that statistic is unlikely to be helped by an upcoming home-stand for Brooklyn. Considering that KD is likely out for the rest of this month and Ben Simmons has played even less than Kyrie this season, the situation is starting to look quite bleak for them.
Irving may not feel guilty about the situation but it definitely is a massive problem for the Nets themselves. If they cannot snap their massive losing streak soon, they risk falling out of the play-in spots in the Eastern Conference as well. The team is just 2 games above .500 at this point and needs some sort of boost ahead of the playoffs if they wish to challenge for the title this season.
