Kyrie Irving, the flashy point guard who led his Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA title in 2016 and gave basketball fans around the world something to cheer about last year when he announced he was leaving for Boston Celtics, is back. But it won’t be all Kyrie as head coach Steve Nash has to figure out a way how best to use both superstars on their roster.
The “Kyrie Irving’s Return Tasks Brooklyn Nets Coach Steve Nash With an Almost-Unheard of Juggling Act” is about the return of Kyrie Irving for the Boston Celtics. The article talks about how coach Steve Nash has to adjust his coaching style to deal with this new and different ball-handling act.
It won’t be because the route was simple for the Brooklyn Nets to match Las Vegas expectations and win the NBA title in 2022. For the first time in more than 50 years in the NBA, second-year coach Steve Nash deals with injuries, NBA health and safety standards, and a part-time player. For the foreseeable future, superstar point guard Kyrie Irving will be confined to road games exclusively, forcing Nash to shuffle his rotation in ways few coaches have.
Because Irving does not comply with the city of New York’s requirement that users of public gyms be vaccinated against the coronavirus, he is forced to part-time duty (COVID-19). Irving was first sent home by Brooklyn. The Nets eventually relented and brought Irving back on a part-time basis after an epidemic devastated their squad in December.
Kyrie Irving is not a one-of-a-kind player in NBA history.
The Chicago Zephyrs enabled former Purdue standout Terry Dischinger (43) to earn his degree as a rookie before Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving was a part-time player. | Getty Images/Bettmann Archive
Despite superstar Elgin Baylor’s frequent absences, the Los Angeles Lakers reached the NBA Finals in 1961–62. While balancing his NBA career with his active-duty service in the United States Army, Baylor appeared in 48 of LA’s 80 games that season.
It was usual for athletes in all of the major sports to lose time owing to military duty at the time. Professional athletes were not granted deferments from the military draft, however some were given some flexibility in their duties.
The next season, rookie Terry Dischinger, the NBA’s 10th overall selection, worked out a deal with the Chicago Zephyrs to play on weekends while completing his chemical engineering degree at Purdue University.
Dischinger and the Zephyrs, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, made the most of a bad situation.
Dischinger remarked, “It went quite well.” “Whenever I could get to the team, that’s where I’d go.”
Despite missing 23 games, Dischinger was named Rookie of the Year for the second-year expansion team, averaging 25.5 points per game. Kyrie Irving’s position with the Brooklyn Nets is a little more complicated.
The Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving are on a tightrope.
The Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving is the NBA’s first part-time player in more than 50 years. Coach Steve Nash’s job becomes much more harder as a result. | Getty Images/Stacy Revere
Kyrie Irving has appeared in three games for the Brooklyn Nets since making his debut against the Indiana Pacers on January 5. They are 2–1 in those games, with Irving averaging 17.7 points per game in 32.0 minutes. Irving’s jumper, which he shot 50/40/90 last season, has rust — he’s 22-of-48 (45.8%) overall and 4-of-13 from 3-point range.
Nash had placed veteran Patty Mills into the starting lineup, with Joe Harris already out due to ankle surgery. When Irving returned on Jan. 5, Mills was moved to the second unit, and he started the following two games in Brooklyn. Mills returned to the bench when the squad faced Portland on January 10.
In those four games, he had his worst run of the season, shooting 26.5 percent overall and 7-of-27 from outside the arc.
However, as a backup, he scored 21 points on 6-of-8 long-range shooting in a blowout victory against Chicago. On Jan. 15, he started and scored 21 points in 29 minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans at home.
The fact that Mills is a veteran helps. He’s in his 13th NBA season at the age of 33. This year, he has the second-most starts of his career with 24. He’s accustomed to adjusting to a role, even if it changes on a regular basis.
For the Brooklyn Nets, things are about to become a lot more tough.
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Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, a fellow free agent, joined the Brooklyn Nets in July 2019. In January 2021, James Harden joined the group, becoming the most star-studded triumvirate in team history (yes, more prominent than even Derrick Coleman, Kenny Anderson, and Chris Morris in the early 1990s).
When the ensemble performs together, it’s fantastic. But therein lays the problem: Harden, Durant, and Irving have only played together 16 times in total, including the playoffs last year.
For many weeks, that total will remain unchanged. Durant injured his left knee in the victory against the Pelicans. Brooklyn expects him to return in four to six weeks.
The Nets, strangely enough, have a favorable schedule until the end of February. Only seven of their last 20 games are at Barclays Center, where Harden will be the lone superstar available. Except for the Feb. 16 travel to Manhattan to play the New York Knicks, Irving is eligible for 12 of the team’s 13 road games in that stretch. Irving is bound by the same immunization obligation inside Madison Square Garden as he is at home.
However, the loss of Durant is a major setback for the Nets. With 29.3 points per game, he leads the NBA in scoring. When Durant plays, Brooklyn is 24–12, whereas when he doesn’t, they are 3–3. In the Eastern Conference rankings, the Nets remain a half-game behind the Bulls, while the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Cleveland Cavaliers are all within 2.5 games of the top place.
Kyrie Irving can assist the Brooklyn Nets, who are 15–4 on the road this season but just 12–11 home Barclays Center. With Durant out of the picture, this is even more critical. Nash, on the other hand, will have to continue his juggling act. It’s difficult enough to prepare a squad with a single rotation. He needs to prepare for two different lineups.
Basketball Reference provided the statistics.
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When asked about Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a rare and insightful response: ‘It takes so much energy and takes energy away from basketball.’
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Steve Nash is the coach of the Brooklyn Nets and he has been tasked with making sure that Kyrie Irving’s return to basketball goes smoothly. Steve Nash has had a long coaching career, but this one might be his toughest yet. Reference: steve nash coach.
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