Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson was not part of the team’s media day on Tuesday because he was at the hospital with Kyrie Irving, who had taken an elbow to the face and had to be checked out. Later in the day, the reports came that Irving was “okay.”
I guess it depends on how you define okay because he did suffer a facial fracture.
UPDATE: Kyrie Irving has been diagnosed with a left side facial fracture, which he sustained yesterday during workouts. He is currently listed as day to day.
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 25, 2019
Again, this doesn’t appear to be serious in a “he’s going to miss regular-season games” kind of way, but it’s also not good to have a fractured face. This early in the preseason the Nets can go easy on Irving and make sure he’s healthy before he gets back into any contact.
Irving will be the guy with the ball in his hands for the Nets, a team with some interesting players — Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, a minutes battle at center between DeAndre Jordan and Jarrett Allen — that don’t necessarily fit smoothly together. It’s going to take smart point guard play and strong leadership to help mold this team.
Is Irving up to that task? He’ll have to get healthy first before answering.