NEW YORK – Kyrie Irving joined the Brooklyn Nets after two weeks away from the team.
“I’m back, I’m happy to be back,” Irving told reporters. “And we have some great songs and we keep going and I let my actions and my game speak for themselves as I planned to do. I just needed a break.”
Irving trained with the team on Tuesday, and coach Steve Nash said he “expects” Irving to play the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. Irving had missed the team’s last seven games – five for personal reasons and two for conditioning.
Irving said that “he had a lot of family and personal things. So it happens. I just want to leave them like that.”
During his personal reasons, the league fined Irving $ 50,000 for violating health and safety protocols and attending what appeared to be a family birthday party. He also lost more than $ 800,000 in salary for the two games he missed while in quarantine.
Irving declined to say whether or not he knew he was violating the coronavirus league’s safety rules, saying, “I’m glad to be back. Thanks”.
The last game Irving played for Brooklyn was on January 5th. The next day, a large number of supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the US Chapter. Irving said Tuesday that he must make a “separation” between current political and societal events in the United States and the NBA game.
“If you don’t make that distinction,” Irving said, “then it’s easy to feel the weight of the world as you go out there and play. So I’d sit here and say I don’t feel what’s going on in the world, and I don’t feel it. “I just have a huge responsibility, I feel, to continue to serve my community and the underprivileged. With these guys and commit to something, as I always say, greater than ourselves.”
Irving said it was “hard to ignore” what was happening in the world and wanted to continue to “make daily changes.” However, he said he is committed to playing basketball.
“When things get overwhelming in life, you just have to step back and realize what’s important,” Irving said. “And I like to play – it was never a question. I got hired, when that wasn’t even a thing for me.”
Irving apologized to fans who may have been disappointed or disappointed by his absence, saying he understood their perspective because “I started out as a fanatic. I have been invested in this organization since I was a child “.
“My commitment is always to bring something special to Brooklyn,” Irving said. “It wasn’t just a championship. It was unity, equality, just bigger things than just the game itself. It took some time and a few valleys to get home, initially. So for me, I only take in every one. day, being just grateful “.
Irving said he addressed his teammates and the organization individually.