Report: 'Growing pessimism' in NBA that Kyrie Irving will play again for Nets

According to Marc Stein at Substack, “there is growing pessimism in various corners of the league that Kyrie Irving will ever play for the Nets again.” 

Irving is currently suspended without pay by Brooklyn and must meet six requirements before returning to the court after promoting an antisemitic film on social media.

As Stein writes, some close to the process feel that the list of conditions “was crafted with the knowledge that Irving would be unlikely to complete all six and thus could conceivably subject himself to potential outright release.” 

General manager Sean Marks stated on Friday that the Nets have not considered waiving Irving, but perhaps that could change if he doesn’t fulfill the team’s requirements.

Sources tell Stein that Irving is expected to meet with Adam Silver, the NBA’s commisioner, as early as Tuesday. 

Silver issued a statement last week about Irving’s “reckless decision” and failure to offer an “unqualified apology” denouncing the “vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize.” Irving eventually apologized after being suspended, but chose not to in two prior media sessions with reporters.

While this series of events have been by far the most damaging of Irving’s career, he’s missed more games (129) than he’s played (111) for the Nets during his four years in Brooklyn. 

He was injured in Year 1, during the 2020-21 season he was away from the team for a few weeks due to personal reasons, and then last season he was limited to 29 games after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which played a significant factor in James Harden requesting a trade — and being dealt — to the Sixers in February.

During the offseason, he attempted to find a trade with the Nets’ permission, but couldn’t find any takers, so he eventually picked up his $36.9M player option for 2022-23. 

That series of events over a period of years — and his refusal to acknowledge his mistakes — obviously led to internal strife with the organization, culminating in his recent suspension.

Stein previously reported that “strong voices” were telling owner Joe Tsai to reconsider hiring Ime Udoka to replace Steve Nash as head coach. That has not occurred as of yet, but Stein says that Udoka is “believed to be the preferred choice” of Marks and star forward Kevin Durant.

In other Udoka-related news, sources tell Stein that Udoka, who was suspended for the season by the Celtics following an investigation into his improper workplace relationship, had to forfeit half of his roughly $4M salary as part of the suspension. The Celtics declined to comment on the financial specifics of the suspension.