Kyrie Irving led the Brooklyn Nets to a come-from-behind win over Washington on Saturday night, a day after he told the team he would like to be traded.
The Nets stated that Irving’s absence was due to right shin soreness, adding them to the injury report for their game against Washington. Irving was not listed on the Friday night or Saturday morning reports.
Brooklyn coach Jack Vaughn said after the Nets’ 125–123 victory that Irving did not attend the game and that the player’s absence was excused.
Vaughn said, “We all agreed on him not being here tonight.”
Vaughn said before the game that he was unsure whether Irving would be at Barclays Center. He added that Irving “wasn’t on the walkthrough.”
He would not speculate on whether Irving would be available for the Nets’ two remaining games before the Thursday afternoon trade deadline.
“I’m just going to be worried about (the Wizards),” Vaughn said. “I’m not going to complicate this thing at all.”
Irving asked the Nets to be traded on Friday, a person with knowledge of the details told The Associated Press. The All-Star is frustrated that the Nets have so far refused to give him an extension on his contact, which expires after this season.
Vaughn said he spoke with Irving and the rest of the team on Friday before the star guard’s trade request became public. However, this was not a topic of conversation between the coach and his team.
Vaughn said, “Our conversations were about more than basketball.” “Life is checking on them. I never want to second guess how a player is feeling. His feelings are his feelings. And I will always confirm this. … so I won’t speculate.
Kevin Durant is still sidelined with a sprained knee ligament, and Ben Simmons and T.J. Warren would each miss his fourth straight game with left knee soreness and a left shin injury, respectively. Simmons was demoted after being listed as the first suspect. Warren was initially listed as a suspect, which changed about an hour before gametime.
“Just trying to get to a level — T.J. and Ben — where they’re comfortable getting back on the court and playing,” Vaughn said.
Asked if he’s got a timetable on when to expect Simmons to play, Vaughn said, “I think we’re heading towards that. It’s really day-by-day. He’ll be back on the court tomorrow.” Hopefully he will find that comfort level and react to work tomorrow to get closer to playing the next two games.