After taking a break from competitive basketball upon team suspension, Kyrie Irving is nothing but happy to be back in the Brooklyn Nets camp.
“It felt good,” Irving said, per ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “It felt good. I missed my teammates, missed the coaching staff. … It felt good to get this game out of the way. Now we can move forward with the rest of the season.”
As he was slapped with an eight-game leave in light of the suspension handed by the Nets following his controversial reluctance to deny his antisemitic beliefs, Irving was cheered on and welcomed back on Sunday by the optimistic Brooklyn faithful.
But on another odd occasion, a group of Black Hebrew Israelites joined the celebration outside of the Barclays Center and expresses their support to him while handing out “The Truth About Anti-Semitism” and “The Truth about Slavery” flyers.
“I think that’s a conversation for another day,” Irving said about the protesters. “I’m just here to focus on the game.”
Against the decimated Memphis Grizzlies that are plagued by injuries, Irving made a comeback for himself, though he looked rusty and still adjusting mainly because of the long absence and the new system being implemented under head coach Jacque Vaughn.
Playing 26 minutes as he started, the All-Star guard went off with 14 markers in 5-for-12 shooting while grabbing five boards, a steal, and a block.
Ben Simmons, who enjoyed the best game of his career as a Net against the Grizzlies, is delighted to see that his backcourt running mate is back and ready to perform again.
“It’s Kyrie, he’s so talented,” Simmons said. “Obviously, he’s working on the handle again, trying to get a feel for the ball, but he’s so talented it’s easy to play with him.”
