Irving’s Spectacular Night Prompts Nets Fans To Wonder, “What If?”

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Nets fans had to be of two minds as they watched Kyrie Irving explode for 50 points in Brooklyn’s 132-121 victory in Charlotte on Tuesday night.

First was one of jaw-dropping marvel. Irving was spectacular, hitting on 15-of-19 shot attempts (only Adrian Dantley in 1980 put up a 50-burger with fewer field goal attempts in NBA history), including 9-of-12 from behind the three-point line, which translated to an effective field goal percentage of 102.6%. One guy tweeted that Kyrie broke analytics.

And Brooklyn absolutely needed that level of production. With Kevin Durant having a rare off night—and not just on his shooting (6-of-13), but also when you consider the inexcusable turnovers (four lazy passes intercepted) and inattentive defense--Irving saved the Nets with what KD called a “master class” performance in a game they had to have.

The Nets (33-33) leapfrogged the Hornets for eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings and evened the season series at 1-1 for tiebreaking purposes. With a tough matchup in Philadelphia next on the docket on Thursday, it was crucial for Brooklyn to be able to halt its four-game losing streak.  

Unfortunately, after facing the Sixers, Irving is slated to be available only four more times over Brooklyn’s final 15 games, which brings me to the other side of the coin.

Nets fans can only imagine how this season would have played out had Irving simply taken the COVID-19 vaccine that is mandatory for New York City pro athletes in indoor sports, like 99% of his NBA colleagues did. This was only Kyrie’s 17th game this season, and just his fifth with KD in tow.

As a result, instead of setting themselves up for a lengthy postseason run as most prognosticators predicted, the Nets are scrambling just to secure a spot in the tournament, almost resigned to the inevitability that they will be one of the four contestants in the play-in round.

As you are all well aware by now, the Nets opened the season by banning Irving from all team events until relenting in January to allow him to play road games (outside of Toronto and Madison Square Garden, which have mandates). While the City’s COVID-19 community spread has been rapidly decreasing and fans no longer have to show proof of vaccination to enter Barclays Center, Mayor Eric Adams has given no indication that he intends to lift the Private Employer vaccine mandate to allow Irving to go back to full-time status any time soon.

I’ve both defended and condemned the mandate over the course of the season as conditions evolved, especially the insanity of the current rules that grant Irving permission to practice with the team, sit with the team on the sidelines at games, and watch other nonvaccinated players compete against his team, but won’t let him step foot on the court in his team’s uniform.

But the point here is that all this could have been avoided so easily. Unfortunately, nothing with this player comes easy. Despite his extraordinary talents and considerable efforts to assist his community, something outside of basketball always seems to get in the way of his performing at an elite level. The problem isn’t that Irving marches to the beat of his own drum—it’s that he doesn’t care if it subjects his listeners to radio silence.

So you take the good with the bad with Irving, hoping that the good wins out in the end. The Nets probably never would have secured the services of Durant, who was playing at an MVP clip before an MCL sprain cost him 21 games, in the 2019 free agency Clean Sweep if not for Irving’s desire to play for a team close to his family in New Jersey that he rooted for as a youth. You make that Faustian deal every time if you’re an NBA GM.

In his three seasons in Brooklyn, though, Irving has suited up for just 91 of the team’s 210 games. Injuries were obviously the largest contributor to his high absentee total, but the Nets were reportedly none too pleased when he took off from work for seven games last season for “personal reasons,” allegedly related to his dismay over the country’s political strife.

And, of course, the organization has to be well aware how much Irving’s illogical anti-vaxx stance has impacted this season’s mission. After Tuesday’s game, Durant pointed to it as a main reason why James Harden wanted out of Brooklyn so badly that he passive-aggressively forced management to trade him to Philadelphia at the February 10 deadline.

“When you try to look at it from (Harden’s) perspective, and you look up and Kai’s not playing and then I’m injured, he hasn’t won a championship before so (he’s) looking at himself at 32-years old and wanted to make a decision to get on a team that can get him to that--one of the last teams standing,” Durant said.

“Kai’s not playing” will go down as the enduring testament to Irving’s tenure in Brooklyn, whenever that ends (he can opt out of his contract after the season, in which case, who knows?).

Ah, but when he did play, like on Tuesday night, it was often magical. This game has never seen a player his size (listed at 6-foot 2) dominate the way he has. Irving is a master of the purest fundamentals, from dribbling to shot creation and shot making. He lifts fans out of their seats, even when they’re watching at home.

Last season, Irving became just the ninth player in league history to put up a 50/40/90 shooting split and this season, playing so sporadically, he’s a few ticks under on the first number in his attempt to repeat that feat.

That’s why Nets fans can be both amazed at Irving’s greatness while simultaneously disillusioned, wondering what this team could have been If only he elected to participate in all the games.