The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly not overly concerned with the injury new point guard Kyrie Irving suffered Thursday, lasting merely a minute of preseason action after taking a shot to the face from Rajon Rondo.
Irving was diagnosed with a facial contusion, an injury that comes on the heels of a facial fracture, which he suffered during a pickup game prior to training camp, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post:
1 minute into the game, Kyrie Irving leaves the game after getting hit in the face by Rondo.
(Via @gifdsports) pic.twitter.com/LLjRdAXY3n
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 10, 2019
This is one of the many facial injuries Irving has suffered in his career, also wearing a mask during his stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. While the Nets aren't worried that this apparent poke in the eye would aggravate the fracture he suffered roughly a month ago, the team will need to play it carefully during the preseason, as Irving will be their meal ticket throughout the 2019-20 campaign now that Kevin Durant has been ruled out for the season.
Brooklyn managed to net a 114-111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Shanghai, China — a game that had potential to be canceled after several sponsors pulled out from the event in the wake of the feud between the NBA and the Chinese government, which took down several promotional announcements around the city.
The game was played without any media availability before or after the game, though it still had a decent number of people attending and captivated by the action between two of the NBA's best teams.
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