Faced with the scenario of having to build chemistry with Kyrie Irving only available part-time, the Brooklyn Nets may be taking action accordingly.
Nets head coach Steve Nash said this week that it is possible the team could bring Irving off the bench when he is eligible to play this season.
“It’s possible, yeah,” said Nash, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “We’ll see. We haven’t really got there yet. We’re still trying to process all of the possibilities. That might take us some time to see where his body’s at. No one’s ever done that before. I wouldn’t know what precedents there are, and what’s the best way to do it. We’re really trying to navigate it as we go.”
Coming off the bench would be a major demotion for Irving, who was an All-NBA selection just last season. He has also started in all 652 games of his professional career thus far (regular season and playoffs).
That said, the Nets have championship aspirations and can ill afford to have Irving messing up the vibe of the starting lineup by constantly being in and out. They seem to be resigned to life without Irving, at least to some extent, and that may include leaving him out of the starting five entirely.
