Kyrie Irving and Adam Silver met Tuesday amid the guard's suspension by the Brooklyn Nets. NBA insider Shams Charania called the meeting “productive and understanding” for both sides, “paving the way” for Irving to work through the steps of a potential return.
Brooklyn issued a five-game minimum suspension to Irving on Nov. 5 following his repeated refusal to apologize for posts of an antisemitic film. The guard apologized on Instagram hours later, to which the Nets responded with six steps he must complete before returning: a spoken apology condemning the film, a $500,000 donation to anti-hate causes, sensitivity and antisemitic training, as well as meetings with the ADL, Jewish leaders, and Nets owner Joe Tsai.
The meeting with Tsai would include “lead franchise officials” where Irving must “demonstrate the lessons learned and that the gravity of the harm caused in the situation is understood, and provide assurances that this type of behavior will not be repeated,” according to Charania. Prior to Irving's meeting with Silver, Marc Stein reported that the team may have crafted the list with knowledge Irving would not complete the tasks.
“There is growing pessimism in various corners of the league that Kyrie Irving will ever play for the Nets again,” Stein said. “There is a feeling among some close to the process, I’m told, that the list was crafted with the knowledge that Irving would be unlikely to complete all six and thus could conceivably subject himself to potential outright release.”
NBPA vice president Jaylen Brown, a position Irving also holds, said some within the union have issues with the requirements for Irving's return. It appears that Tuesday's meeting may have fostered an understanding between Irving and Brooklyn with Silver acting as the mediator. However, it remains to be seen what this compromise may look like.
Charania also reported Tuesday that Irving has relationships to sort out with not only Tsai and Nets management, but also his teammates.
“There are relationships that need to be sorted out, not only between Kyrie and management in the organization as far as the ownership, but also the locker room,” he said. “He’s been away from the team for about a week now, so that is a big amount of time that he’s been gone.”
"There are relationships that need to be sorted out. Not only between Kyrie Irving, management, & the organization as far as the ownership but also the locker room. He's been away from the team for about a week.”
-Shams Charania pic.twitter.com/HmjOJrDK66
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 8, 2022
This marks the third straight year the Nets find themselves enveloped in controversy surrounding Kyrie Irving. The guard took a pair of extended hiatuses during the 2020-21 season, leaving the team and media to speculate on his whereabouts. Brooklyn was then forced to suspend Irving last year while he refused to comply with New York’s workplace vaccine mandate.
This led to Brooklyn's refusal to offer the seven-time All-Star a fully guaranteed, long-term contract this summer. Less than 10 games in, the Nets were forced to suspend Irving for the second consecutive year. For a team that was already extremely hesitant to commit to the unpredictable guard, you could not have scripted a worse start to the season.
Despite this, Brooklyn's win-now status puts them in a precarious situation in regard to Irving. Kevin Durant returned to the team following his trade request this summer. The former MVP is having one of the best starts to a season in his career, scoring 25-plus points in all 11 of the Nets' games. Through all of the team's drama, Durant has appeared engaged and committed. But at 34 years old, when will the 12-time All-Star's patience run out?
Regardless of how much of a distraction Irving continues to be, Brooklyn does not have a path to contention this season that does not include the guard. This leaves the team with two options: release Irving, trade Durant and blow up the team entirely, or take Irving back and hold out hope that the team will finally come together.
The former gives the Nets a feasible path to a top-10 pick in 2023. Houston holds the right to swap picks with Brooklyn in the next draft. However, the Rockets currently sit dead last in the league at 2-9, making it unlikely the swap would convey. While this renders the Nets unable to land projected No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, they would have an outside shot at Scoot Henderson and several other coveted prospects.
Taking Irving back still leaves the Nets with several question marks that currently position them outside the circle of title contenders. Ben Simmons, the team's supposed third star, has looked like a shell of himself after returning from back surgery and just returned from a short absence due to a knee injury. Joe Harris and Seth Curry, Brooklyn's top shooters and key pieces of the offense, look far from 100 percent as they return from offseason ankle surgeries.
The likeliest outcome is the Nets reassessing where they sit in the standings when over 30 percent of the league's players become trade eligible on Dec. 15. Having already invested a boatload of picks to Houston and hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury tax, Brooklyn could opt to see it through this season.
However, as it pertains to Kyrie Irving's long-term future with the team, the only thing that will save him is avoiding any further distractions while Brooklyn makes a deep playoff run that pushes the team into the championship conversation. But with a three-year sample size of off-court issues and an assortment of question marks surrounding the team, that scenario looks like more of a pipe dream as each day passes.
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