Although the Brooklyn Nets recently made traction with Kyrie Irving about making a return to action in the near future, it won’t be until at least January. He entered the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols almost immediately after it was announced he would play for the Nets in road games outside of New York.
Since Irving cannot play home games, the Nets will have to wait until an upcoming road trip for his return. Getting in game shape is important for any NBA player. As such, it might take time for Irving to ramp up and get back to where needs to be to play for the Nets.
“He needs ramp up, so we won’t see Kyrie on this trip,” said Nets coach Steve Nash earlier this week. While Brooklyn is currently on a road trip, this isn’t one Irving will play in.
After the start of the new year, the Nets are not on the road again until Jan. 5 at Indiana, followed by Jan. 12 at Chicago. Due to this, Irving’s season debut may not come until late into the month at the earliest. Brooklyn has a four-game road trip that starts in Cleveland on Jan. 17 that could be a great time for him to return to the court.
Irving has not been with the team on a regular basis since the first week of training camp at the start of October. Last season with the Nets, he averaged 26.9 points, 6.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds per contest.
