The Brooklyn Nets dismantled the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night, but the victory came without the team's star-studded duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The former is out due to league COVID-19 protocols, as he needs to continue his quarantine until at least Sunday's game should he continue to test negative.
For Irving, though, all we know is that personal reasons are behind his absence. Head coach Steve Nash, for one, said that he didn't know where Irving was just minutes before Thursday night's tipoff.
“I sent him a message in the last half-hour and haven’t heard back yet,” Nash said (via ESPN's Malika Andrews). “But obviously thinking about him and hope that all is well. It's a private matter."
After the game, Nash reiterated that he wasn't sure why the point guard didn't show, though he dismissed a report from Brandon Robinson of Heavy.com.
“I haven’t spoke to him yet,” Nash said (via Brian Lewis of The New York Post). “I can’t really comment because I haven’t spoke to him, and it’s personal reasons. So it has to come from Kyrie. But I don’t believe that to be the case.”
Caris LeVert, who helped to carry the load offensively with 22 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists against the Sixers, said that Irving informed the team of his decision not to play through text.
“He texted us before the game, but that’s a personal issue for him. We support him. He’s our brother,” LeVert said. “We went out there, and we competed without him. So, like I said, it was a personal issue for him.”
NBA insider Joe Vardon added that Irving would not travel to Memphis for the Nets' Friday night away game, though that is the only game on this road trip for Brooklyn.
Irving has been electric in the seven games in which he has suited up for the Nets this season, averaging 27.1 points per game on a 50.4 percent clip from the field and 42.6 percent from beyond the arc. In the first game he missed, the Nets lost a close game to the Grizzlies, though Thursday's thrashing of the Sixers came without Irving, Durant and others.
A positive COVID test forced Seth Curry to miss the game between the Nets and 76ers, and though the Sixers will quarantine, the Nets are still set to play on Friday night as of now.
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