Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks addresses the shoulder injury that cut Kyrie Irving’s season short.
It’s been a disappointing season for the Brooklyn Nets…to say the least. Despite currently sitting in a playoff spot (seventh in the Eastern Conference), Brooklyn has dealt with a number of injuries. This includes one to their star point guard.
Kyrie Irving — who the Nets just signed this past offseason — will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.
It’s a tough situation for the organization as a whole, and this week, general manager Sean Marks went on WFAN Sports Radio to provide his thoughts.
“It is disappointing,” Marks told hosts Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno on Monday. “But nobody’s more disappointed than probably Kyrie. Kyrie and I have had multiple heart-to-hearts and good conversations about how excited he was to be back here and play in front of a lot of family and friends on a nightly basis.”
In 20 games this year (the lowest single-season total of his career), Irving averaged 27.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.4 assists. He converted on 47.8% of his shots from the field, which included hitting 39.4% of his attempts from downtown.
The Nets executed a pair of huge acquisitions last offseason in Irving and Kevin Durant. The latter’s season essentially ended before it started due to a ruptured Achilles suffered in last year’s NBA Finals. But now with Irving out as well, you’d think the players on this roster would become discouraged.
Nonetheless, Marks notes that this theory is far from the truth.
“(Kyrie) and Kevin and the rest of the guys that have all signed on here, they hope to build this,” he said. “I always take a select handful of player’s opinions in terms of how we can build this. We’ve done this since Day One. Because these guys know the players better than anyone else…They’ll be brutally honest because they’ve got to go play with those guys. I think it’s important to weigh their opinions from time to time.”
Moving forward, the Nets hope to finish the season strong. They’re currently 26-30 with a four-game road trip on deck. The slate of matchups away from Brooklyn will commence on Wednesday against the Washington Wizards. Tip-off is set to occur at 7:00 p.m. ET.
