Kyrie Irving missed Brooklyn Nets’ last game against the Philadelphia 76ers for “personal reasons.” Nets head coach Steve Nash said he was ok with that decision but that wasn’t the end of the problems for Irving and his team. Reports surfaced suggesting that the point guard just didn’t want to play and that was his reason for last night’s absence.
After that, more reports came suggesting what really happened with Kyrie. Nobody knows what was going on with the 2016 NBA champion, not even Steve Nash. Before the game, the 2x NBA MVP said that he didn’t know why Kyrie made this decision. A couple of hours later, reports tried to shed light on the situation. Nash also said that he didn’t believe Kyrie just didn’t want play and nothing else, denying those claims after Thursday’s night match.
Via Joe Vardon of The Athletic:
I reported Thursday night that Irving was “not coming” with the team to Memphis. Which means he’s going to miss at least two games for “personal reasons.” A source close to him said Irving is “OK,” but could not say when he might return to the court. Caris LeVert, one of the Nets’ heroes in Kyrie’s absence, said Irving texted his teammates before Thursday’s game, but another Nets’ source who got the text said, “Honestly, I’m not sure” when asked about the reason Irving gave.
There were at least two reports out there suggesting that Irving’s reason had something to do with the terror in Washington from Wednesday. A reporter for Heavy.com, citing a source close to Kyrie, said the explanation was “I just didn’t want to play.”
“I don’t believe that to be the case,” Nash said.
Steve Nash said he does not know why Kyrie Irving won't play tonight against the Sixers, as in, he is unaware of what KI's personal issue is. Nash said he reached out to Kyrie and did not hear back
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) January 7, 2021
The Nets are still a competitive team, as they showed last night. Even with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving out, they stepped up and played a great game against the best team in the Eastern Conference, beating them behind Joe Harris’ 28 points and Caris LeVert’s 22.
This could have been a lot worse but this week has been really great for the Nets, who are ready to continue their good pace, although Kyrie isn’t traveling to Memphis with the team.
