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The Brooklyn Nets recently had a taste of what it's like to have their Big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving all available for a recent game versus the Chicago Bulls. That 138-112 victory was their best win of the year so far, allowing them to climb back to third in the East and trail just the Bulls and Miami Heat.
For what it's worth, they're still excited about their new “Ferrari” rejoining the team.
Head coach Steve Nash recently said he wanted to be cautious with Kyrie's return to play and not just grind him with 40 minutes per game.
“We would love for it to be gradual and a strategic allocation of minutes not just like, ‘Alright, great, we got a new Ferrari and we're gonna wrack up miles,'” the Nets coach explained.
There was a bit of confusion this past week. First a report suggested the Nets might be able to deploy Irving as a full-time player by paying fines to New York City. Next that idea was shot down in a follow up report. So for the time being, Irving is back to being a part-time player for the rest of the season and playoffs.
After that recent win against the Bulls, the second time we got to see the Big 3 active in a game this season, Kyrie got honest on his routine in watching games. He also shared a fantasy he might have if he wasn't such a high-profile superstar.
“If you only understood how many people support the Nets from my hometown and also from where I'm from it's a lot so sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, I can’t really go out and watch at a local bar or anything like that. I would love to just be ‘man ok K [he calls his friend Kevin Durant ‘K'] shoot a shot, let's [mimes drinking shots]. Nah I'm joking. But just having fun watching it and sometimes I gotta watch it alone and sometimes I get to watch with my family, so it's just a balance,” said Irving as he let his guard down a bit after a big win.
So the Nets will look to acclimate Irving back from a long layoff. But there is not a lot of time to communicate with him when he's not with the team.
Before the Nets' Saturday night game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Nash was asked how often he speaks to Irving during game days when he's not around the Nets.
“Not a lot to be honest,” admitted Steve Nash. “I've got my hands full trying to communicate with the guys that are playing tonight and with my staff so I really don't get to communicate with him much 'cause we're just so inundated with tasks on a game day, with the game that night, with the players, coaching staff, performance, analytics, video, so it's not straight forward where I get the chance to give him a call everyday.”
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Kyrie Irving still does have access to everything he needs in terms of film work, however.
"Not a lot to be honest, I've got my hands full trying to communicate with the guys that are playing tonight and with my staff so I really don't get to communicate with him much…."
-Steve Nash on how often he connects with Kyrie Irving on games he is not eligible to appear in.
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) January 15, 2022
“Yeah, he has access to all our stuff,” the Nets tactician furthered. “So he has full resources and ability to stay locked in. The number one thing for us right now with Kyrie even ahead of that cohesion is adaptation physically. It's the different rhythm for him not just having a kind of long offseason so to speak, until the last week and a half but you can't replicate NBA games. So it's a process that we have to also be aware of.”
Nash also discussed how it might be a challenge for Irving to play so infrequently. Keep in mind, Kyrie–in his 11th year–has gotten used to playing every day or two as part of the NBA grind. But as a part-time player, there are sometimes long stretches between contests for him.
“He's still adapting to demands, also adapting to a new cadence,” Nash shared. “What did he do, he played one week, played a week later and then couple days later. So it's different, it's something that we have to give him time to adapt to and to get to his best.”
We may not expect Irving to be back in game shape with his own rhythm yet, but he certainly doesn't seem to have lost much confidence. There may not be a ton of time to talk during the marathon season, but the more games Kyrie gets under his belt the better the Nets will start to look.
Like coach Nash says, it's about physical adaptation and cadence.
