Kyrie Irving late scratch against Warriors due to calf tightness

It appeared as if the Nets were set to have a clear injury report for the first time since Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant signed in the summer of 2019. Finally.

But things can never be that easy in the Nets World.

Two hours before the tip-off of Brooklyn’s home game against the Warriors, reporters were alerted that Kyrie Irving was now ‘questionable’ due to calf tightness. This was a bit of a surprise; Irving came out just fine after Sunday’s game against the Detroit Pistons and didn’t report any discomfort following Tuesday’s practice at the HSS Practice Center.

Reporters caught up with Jacque Vaughn before the game to check in on Irving’s status.

“It just came after, he did some shooting a little bit earlier when he arrived and then came to me and said he experienced a little bit of tightness and so want to get him checked out a little bit and see what the update is hopefully soon,” said Vaughn.

Shortly after, Irving was downgraded once more to out against Golden State. RIP the healthy Nets.

This is the first game of the season that Irving, who has dealt with many ailments in his 11-year career, has missed due to an injury. He, along with the totality of Brooklyn’s nominal 8-man rotation, was scratched against the Indiana Pacers due to rest on December 10 (the Nets technically listed him as out with “left abductor tightness”). He also missed 8 games earlier in the season due to being suspended by the Nets after sharing a link to a documentary with anti-semitic messaging to his social media channels.

Brooklyn hosts the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. Brooklyn is 12-3 since Irving returned from suspension, and his Nets could greatly use his star power against their rival from Milwaukee.

Someday, we’ll get a clear injury report. Someday...