Kyrie Irving Facing the Possibility of Wearing a Mask Again
The Brooklyn Nets are monitoring the status of Kyrie Irving in another potential injury blow for the team.
Kyrie Irving faces the possibility of wearing a protective mask again after he suffered a left-side facial fracture on Tuesday.
The New York Daily News reported that Kyrie Irving saw a doctor after taking an elbow to the face in training.
His status is day-to-day, and he will hope that he doesn’t have to wear an inhibiting face mask again.
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Irving had to wear a mask after suffering facial fractures in 2017, and he felt it hampered him.
“It’s just a piece of plastic on your face,” he said, per Jay King of MassLive.com.
“It’s the difference of having something over your face, it’s almost like having somewhat foggy blinders on.”
The Nets begin their preseason campaign against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 12. Irving has until then to recover before he has to wear a mask.
Irving joined the Nets this summer on a four-year, $141 max contract. He averaged 23.8 points, while setting career highs with 6.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds last season for the Celtics.
He was joined in Brooklyn by Kevin Durant, who will not play this season while he recovered from his Achilles injury.Â
Read: Kevin Durant Will Definitely Not Play This Season
It’s short term pain for long term gain for the Nets, who are at the beginning of a new era. Durant and Irving joined the team largely thanks to new owner Joe Tsai, who completed his takeover of the team last week.
He paid $2.35 billion for the Brooklyn Nets and around $1 billion for the Barclays Center, making the Nets the most expensive sports franchise in the U.S.
