NEW YORK – Kyrie Irving rejoined the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday after two weeks away from the team.
“I’m back, I’m happy to be back,” Irving told reporters. “And we got some fantastic pieces, we went ahead and let my actions and my game speak for themselves as I had planned to do. I just needed a break.”
Irving practiced Tuesday with the team and coach Steve Nash said he “expects” Irving to play Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Irving had missed the team’s last seven games – five for personal reasons and two while conditioning.
Irving said “I had a lot of personal and family things. So I just want to leave it at that.”
During his time away for personal reasons, the league fined Irving for violating safety and health protocols and attending a family birthday party. He also lost more than $ 800,000 in salary for the two games he lost while in quarantine.
Irving declined to answer whether or not he knew he was violating the league’s corornavirus security rules, saying, “Happy to be back. Thank you.”
The last game Irving played in Brooklyn was on January 5th. The next day, a crowd of supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the United States Capitol. Irving said Tuesday that he must make a “separation” between current political and social events in the United States and those in the NBA.
“If you don’t create that distinction,” Irving said, “then it’s easy to feel the weight of the world as you go outside and play. So I’d be lying here sitting and saying I don’t feel what’s going on in the world, nor am I paying attention to it. “I have a huge responsibility, I’m sorry, to continue to serve my community and the less served. And when I’m here playing, I keep getting acquainted with these guys and committing to something, as I always say, bigger than us.”
Irving apologized to fans who may have felt frustrated or disappointed by his absence, and said he understood his perspective because “I started out as a fan, I’ve been invested in this organization since I was little.”
“My commitment has always been to bring something special to Brooklyn,” Irving said. “It wasn’t just a championship. It was unity, equality, just bigger things than the game itself. It took quite a while and quite a few valleys to come home, initially. So for me, I’m just taking every day, just grateful “.
Irving said he addressed his teammates and the organization individually.