Subscribe
Follow Us
The Brooklyn Nets will have a much different look in their preseason opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. Steve Nash announced on Saturday that Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Patty Mills, among others, won't suit up. Via Alex Schiffer:
Steve Nash said Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin, Joe Harris, Patty Mills and James Johnson will sit out tomorrow’s preseason opener against the Lakers.
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) October 2, 2021
This definitely makes sense for the Nets considering they just started training camp. There's really no reason to push it and roll all the first unit out right from the get-go. The Lakers are evidently doing the same, with the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis also not playing on Sunday.
Article Continues Below
The story of camp so far for the Nets has been the vaccination status of Kyrie Irving, which could end up hurting the team. If he decides not to get the jab, that means Kyrie would miss all of their home games this season because of the COVID-19 mandates in New York City.
The Nets are certainly going for it all in 2021-22 after falling short of their championship goals last season due to various injuries to their Big 3. But, if Irving isn't available for half of their games, it would definitely be a huge deterrent in their title aspirations. It will be very interesting to see where this situation goes, but we will likely see him, KD, and Harden together in preseason soon enough. Just not on Sunday.
