The Brooklyn Nets receive some much-needed good news in the form of a positive step forward in the Kyrie Irving injury saga.
Kyrie Irving‘s injury started out as a seemingly minor issue, but quickly unraveled into a months-long affair. The updates on his status were few and far between, but Brooklyn Nets fans can take a sigh of relief after hearing the news out of Brooklyn on Friday.
Irving says he’s been able to play five-on-five and do contact work in practice per Malika Andrews of ESPN. Additionally, he will be re-evaluated in a week as he continues to make progress.
He offered more details on the specifics of his injury to reporters.
#Nets Kyrie Irving offers more insight into his shoulder impingement that has sidelined him for nearly two months now: pic.twitter.com/Zhbg74Jpwp
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) January 9, 2020
“Medically, there’s a growth plate in there, there’s a bursa sac in there, there’s a lot of different muscles,” Irving said. “So, when you have that impingement, your muscles that usually help your shoulder move or glide correctly, they start shutting down.
“I started losing a lot of weight. I started losing a lot of strength and then after that time, you’ve got to build it back up. It’s quicker to lose it than to gain it and in those two weeks after the Denver game, I lost a lot of strength because I was resting and trying to get back on the court. I started doing exercises a little too soon. That was a setback.
“So there were things that happened in the last month and a half that really put me in this position, but after the cortisone, it gave me a great stepping stone to continue to progress and work my way on getting back on the floor.”
That explanation is fuller than anything we’ve heard from Irving and the Nets during this injury saga. There’s still no exact date on when Irving will reappear on the court, but this clears up plenty of speculation about his status for this season and beyond.
The Nets are in the midst of a freefall. Their current seven-game losing streak has dropped them to four games below .500 and the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Irving’s return could help solve a lot of the problems the Nets are currently facing.