The Brooklyn Nets are hopeful to get Kevin Durant back from the NBA’s health and safety protocols in time for Thursday’s game against Philadelphia, and it appears as if the final part of “Scary Hours” could be back sooner than later, too.
Both Durant and Kyrie Irving went into the NBA’s protocols on Dec. 18, meaning Monday is the final day of their mandatory 10 days in the protocols – and when asked how long it might take for Kyrie to ramp up for full basketball activity once he comes out of protocols, Nets head coach Steve Nash said “mayve a week or two, likely closer to two weeks.”
Translation: if Irving is ready to come out of protocols when eligible Tuesday, he could be in for a return as soon as mid-January.
“It’s hard to say, because we have to evaluate him from a physical performance standpoint, and then a basketball standpoint as well,” Nash said. “He’s isolating, so that puts another layer to the ramp up, because it’s not like he’s been working out. So it’s probably closer to two weeks, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.”
It seems as if the Nets players are all ready to have Kyrie back, even as a part-time player.
“Hopefully we can get him back full-time, but it’s definitely going to be Scary Hours,” said Nic Claxton. “I’m ready to get my brother back. I think he can break the game for us and make things easier for everybody on the court.”
The only other issue standing in the way? After their second straight game in Los Angeles on Monday, the Nets play seven of their next nine games at home, with trips to Indiana (Jan. 5) and Chicago (Jan. 12) the only road games on the slate until they begin a four-game road trip in Cleveland on Jan. 17.
Sometime in that span seems to be a potential target for an Irving return, as he is still unable to play any home games (or games at MSG) per New York City’s vaccine mandates, and January 17 would mark a full three weeks of preparation if Kyrie clears protocols as soon as eligible on Tuesday.
The Nets are also hopeful that LaMarcus Aldridge, the only other player left in the NBA’s COVID protocol, will be back this week as well. Aldridge went into protocols on Dec. 14, so his mandatory 10 days are up, and his return is simply contingent on fulfilling the NBA’s negative testing requirements.
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