Brooklyn Nets: Idea Kyrie Irving ducking Boston trip just asinine

Former NBA player Kendrick Perkins made some waves by declaring Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving ‘planned this whole injury thing,’ but the idea is asinine.

The Brooklyn Nets announced Friday that point guard Kyrie Irving would not travel with the team on its three-game road trip that begins Sunday against the New York Knicks, continues Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers and concludes with a visit to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.

This can’t come as too much of a surprise; Irving has missed Brooklyn’s last four games with an impingement in his right shoulder.

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Just what is shoulder impingement? According to Cleveland Clinic, an impingement occurs when the rotator cuff — a tendon in the shoulder that lies between the arm bone and the top of the shoulder — is injured and swells, getting pinched between the bones and making it difficult to reach with or lift the arm.

It doesn’t sound particularly comfortable.

But because it’s Kyrie Irving and a game with the Boston Celtics is involved, the operative strategy appears to be just to let the conspiracy theories fly.

Kendrick Perkins, a former Celtic who never played with Irving in Boston and a former Cavalier who never played with Irving in Cleveland, now works as a talking head on ESPN and is buying into the “don’t worry if it’s stupid, just be controversial” school of broadcasting.

Yes, Mr. Perkins. A player who has an incentive in his contract based on playing at least 70 games is going to jeopardize his chances of earning that incentive by missing at least seven games just to cover up that he desperately wants to miss only one of them.

Even as someone who will almost always defer to the analysis and opinion of former players — hey, they lived it and I didn’t — Perkins’ comments were a bridge too far.

Nets coach Kenny Atkinson doesn’t sound like a guy who thinks his player is up to anything nefarious, saying after Thursday’s practice:

"“I don’t think it’s something he can play through right now. The shoulder is a sensitive spot, especially for a point guard — you’re like a quarterback. He’s got to get to the point where he feels like — and we feel like — he can play. We’re just not at that point yet.”"

However, to be fair, there is some smoke behind this particular fire. In two seasons after being traded from the Cavaliers to the Celtics in 2017, Irving only played in one of six possible games back in Cleveland — including missing three games in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018 when he was out with a knee injury, as well as both visits last season.

With Irving out against both the Cavs and Celtics, it will make it seven road games out of eight he has not played against his former teams.

Paul Pierce, another former Celtic who played one year in Brooklyn and is also an analyst with ESPN, said Friday before the Nets announced Irving’s status that Kyrie could have a tough time going back to Boston.

“This is Boston, folks. When you tell these fans, ‘Hey, I’m going to re-sign. I’ll be back, I’m here for the long run.’ And then you turn around and leave a sour taste in the organization’s lap and fans — this is going to be one of the loudest boos in league history. This has never happened, a player of his caliber saying, ‘I’ll be back’ and then leave. … He deserves (to be booed).”

The Nets have traditionally played things safe when it comes to injuries since general manager Sean Marks came to the organization in February 2016.

Atkinson has told the media that Irving’s injury isn’t a long-term issue, but also said his star point guard couldn’t play right now even in a playoff berth on the line.

"“I wouldn’t say we’re being over-cautious. He has a situation that’s prevented him from playing. This is a collaborative thing. We’ve talked about it before. This is the best course of action. Do I think it’s a long-term thing? No. I don’t think he can play through it right now, quite honestly. That’s were we are and we’ll see where that goes. …”"

Irving initially hurt the shoulder in the Nets’ loss to the Utah Jazz on Nov. 12 and played through it in Denver two nights later. But after shooting 37.8 percent from 3-point range before the game against the Jazz, Irving was only 3-for-17 combined (17.6 percent) against Utah and the Denver Nuggets, while making only 18-of-50 (36 percent) overall.

If Irving had played 39 minutes in Friday’s win by Brooklyn over the Sacramento Kings, then maybe you could buy into the idea that Kyrie is trying to intentionally duck his former club(s).

But the fact is, he’s already missed four games and the Nets have gone 3-1 over that span, with backup Spencer Dinwiddie stepping into the starting lineup and averaging 23.8 points, 6.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 32.0 minutes per game over those four games, scoring at least 20 points in every game.

The team is handling its business — save for Monday’s blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center — which puts the Nets in a good position of being able to give Irving the time he needs to get his shoulder right before throwing him back into the fire.

Even as delicious as the “Look, he’s scared of us!!!!!” card can be to play.