Kyrie Irving's Interesting 2021 Season
Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, and Luka Doncic are just a few of the top point guards currently in the National Basketball Association. One person that everyone seems to forget is Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving was the first overall selection in the 2011 draft and was born in Melbourne, Australia, but was raised in New Jersey. Kyrie Irving is only 29-years old and is in his 11th year in the league. Kyrie started off his career playing for the Clevland Cavaliers. Then after six years, he signed with the Boston Celtics. After only two seasons with the Celtics Kyrie decided to go team up with Kevin Durant and head to Brooklyn where everything looked perfect until new covid protocols entered the state of New York City.
New York’s vaccine mandate doesn’t allow Kyrie to play Nets’ home games because he is unvaccinated. People wonder why doesn’t Kyrie just get vaccinated. According to Forbes, they say, “Confirming for the first time that he is unvaccinated against Covid-19 and arguing that “nobody should be forced to do anything with their bodies” while asserting he still hopes to return and play for the Nets at some point.”
Kyrie was still positive about returning to the team even with this mandate in place. Kyrie does mention on an Instagram live that he isn’t anti-vaccine. During his time of not playing Kyrie has had no thought of retiring and he even said on his Instagram live that “I am not going and leaving this game like this,” Kyrie said, "There is still so much more work to do." This was great for fans to hear because many fans were worried they were going to lose one of the NBA’s star guards just because of New York’s vaccine mandate.
The Brooklyn Nets were in a tough spot while this situation started happening. The Nets have championship aspirations and Kyrie Irving is a big part of it along with Kevin Durant and James Harden. Kyrie not being on the court also affects how the Nets prepare for games as well. Who knows if they would have a different record if he was playing. All these matter when it comes to a playoff run that they for sure will be in. His not being there is affecting Harden as well because now he has to step up and play a role he didn’t sign up to be but is learning from it. Statistically not having one of his best seasons but Kyrie being there would help him. But the good news is Kyrie Irving was able to come up with a date to make his debut.
On January 5, Kyrie made his debut in the 2021-2022 season at Indiana against the Pacers. Kyrie played 32 minutes that game totaling up a stat sheet of 22 points, 1 block, 3 steals, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. This is the type of production Kyrie puts up and sometimes even more. The Nets ended up winning the game 129-121. After the game, Kyrie was interviewed and said this about his debut to the season. “It just meant a little bit more just because at this stage, being out of the game for eight months and coming back in, there’s just so much uncertainty. How many minutes? What’s the flow of the game? How are my teammates gonna feel? You just don’t have any idea. So, I went in with just an open mindset just to ground myself, be present, and do whatever it takes to win.”
That right there is why his teammates love having him because at the end of the day Kyrie just wants to come out and do whatever he needs to do in order to win and it helped out because before this the Nets were on a three-game losing skid. In the end, Kyrie is a competitor and knows what it takes to win. That’s what the Nets kept him. Whenever the day comes when Kyrie decides to hang the shoes up no one will ever question his work ethic and production because they will see his face in the NBA hall of fame.
