Star guard Kyrie Irving scored 27 points on 12-of-28 shooting as his Brooklyn Nets fell to the Detroit Pistons in upset fashion on Tuesday evening.
Playing without MVP candidate Kevin Durant due to COVID-19 protocols, Brooklyn was also dealing with a finger injury to Irving that cost him the team’s previous game.
It was clear throughout Tuesday night’s affair against one of the worst teams in the NBA that Irving was frustrated. That apparently continued in his postgame press conference with the media.
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Kyrie Irving has very strange quote following Brooklyn Nets loss
“We’re the team that gets someone taken out during COVID during the games,” Irving told reporters, via Ajayi Browne of SB Nation. “We’re the team that has to deal with the refs. We’re the team that is battling against so many odds.”
That’s a pretty strange take given that pretty much every NBA team thus far this season has dealt with COVID-related issues. Obviously, Irving is pointing to Durant being sidelined due to league-mandated protocols despite seemingly having antibodies of the virus following a positive test last year.
The Nets gave up 122 points to a Detroit team that entered Tuesday’s action having lost 18 of its first 23 games. And even without Durant in the mix, they still had the recently-acquired James Harden. The three-time reigning scoring champion turned the ball over a whopping seven times. Perhaps, that played a role in the Nets’ loss.
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For Kyrie Irving, it has been a drama-filled start to the season. He refused to speak to the media when the campaign started. The champion also opted to leave the team for multiple games due to “personal reasons.”
It’s clear that the Nets are under a tremendous amount of pressure. They have the latest iteration of a super-team around the NBA after acquiring Harden. That’s understandable. But cop-outs like this do not paint Irving in the best of lights. That’s for sure.