Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson provided a timely update on the status of his star point guard, Kyrie Irving, and his potential return to the court.
According to Atkinson, Irving will need to overcome a couple of very specific hurdles:
“He’s got to get to the point where he feels like — and we feel like — he can play. We’re just not at that point right now,” Atkinson said, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “I think it’s pain tolerance. I think it’s range of motion. I think those are both fair assessments.”
Irving has missed the Nets' past three games as he continues to recover from a right shoulder issue, and he's going to miss Friday night's game against the Sacramento Kings.
Atkinson also went on to say that this may have resulted from their earlier decision to have their superstar play through the injury:
“He didn’t practice [Thursday], still getting a ton of treatment,” Atkinson said. “When it happened in Utah, I think the next thing was a big discussion whether he was going to play in Denver. He ends up playing.
“Again, that was collaborative. That wasn’t only just him; it was all of us kind of [saying], ‘We want to give this a shot.’ He played, and I think it was aggravated. After that, it’s just been, ‘Let’s just treat this thing on a daily basis.’ ”
Brooklyn has a reputation of being overly cautious when it comes to the injuries of its players. Atkinson's comments above definitely fall within this mindset, and in this respect, it does appear that Irving will be out for a while long.
The Nets are off to a disappointing 6-8 start to the season, so they would certainly like to see their star point guard back soon. Still, it's better to be safe than sorry.
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