Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant to Return to Ailing Brooklyn Nets After Clearing the NBA's COVID-19 Protocols

The Brooklyn Nets announced Tuesday that they would be bringing back much-needed reinforcements after stars Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Kyrie Irving have been cleared from the NBA's health and safety protocols.

Based on the report, the Nets star and NBA's leading scorer Kevin Durant has missed Brooklyn's last three games, including their matchup with the Western Conference contender Clippers in Los Angeles on Monday night.

Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant to Return After Being Cleared From COVID-19 Protocols

Kevin Durant was placed in the NBA health protocols on December 18. The Nets host the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night and the Clippers on Saturday night.

According to CBS Sports, the announcement followed the remarks from the Brooklyn Nets head coach and NBA's future Hall of Famer Steve Nash, who said there was a good chance of Durant being available for Thursday night's game when they would face the Joel Embiid-led team, Sixers.

Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge would likely return immediately to the Nets rotation, but Kyrie Irving's season debut could be a little further off. For his debut, he would only be allowed to play in the Nets' road games as he is still unvaccinated and barred from playing in the city of New York.

The earliest road game for the Nets would be on January 8, when they would play against the Indiana Pacers. Assuming that he would be in a good enough spot to play by then, Irving would be playing his first game this season in Indiana.

Kyrie Irving to Return

Prior to the clearance of Kyrie Irving from the protocols, Nash said Irving's return had not been nailed down yet as the point guard of the Nets has been sidelined after the Brooklyn Nets organization decided at the start of the season that they did not want him to be a part-time player.

However, the Nets recently walked that decision back, allowing him to suit up for just road games. Almost immediately after the team's decision was made, Irving landed in the league's COVID-19 health and safety protocols for testing positive for COVID-19.

When asked about Irving's timeline, Nash said it was hard to tell when exactly he would return but said "probably somewhere between a week and two weeks."

Nash noted that Irving is currently isolating, making it hard for him to work out. He added that it would be closer to two weeks once he would come out of the health and safety protocol established by the league.

Nash said they would still see how it goes because Kyrie Irving would have to be evaluated "from a physical and performance standpoint, and then a basketball standpoint as well."

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Written by: Jess Smith

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