After signing with the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason, former Duke Basketball star Kyrie Irving already suffered his first injury with the team before training camp.
Days before the Brooklyn Nets report to training camp, one of its prized offseason signings, Kyrie Irving, suffered a face injury while playing in a pickup game on Tuesday afternoon.
Irving was hit with an inadvertent elbow and taken the hospital for further evaluation.
The Nets released a statement saying that the former Duke Blue Devil star was diagnosed with a left side facial fracture, and is currently listed as day to day.
UPDATE: Kyrie Irving has been diagnosed with a left side facial fracture, which he sustained yesterday during workouts. He is currently listed as day to day.
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 25, 2019
This is not the first time that Irving suffered an injury to his face as in 2012 with the Cleveland Cavaliers he broke a bone in his jaw and was not out for an extended period of time, as he retuned with a clear mask.
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The New Jersey native also wore a mask in 2017 when he suffered a facial fracture during his time with the Boston Celtics.
Kyrie Irving was drafted out of Duke as the No. 1 pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2011 NBA Draft is a six-time All-Star and 2016 NBA Champion with the Cavs.
Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics prior to the 2017-18 and then signed a four-year, $141 million contract as a free agent with the Brooklyn Nets this offseason.
Brooklyn will already be without one of its superstars as Irving’s fellow free agent superstar, Kevin Durant, is not expected to play after signing with the Nets this offseason as he’s recovering from an achilles tear suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors.
The Brooklyn Nets will play the Los Angeles Lakers in two preseason games in China on October 10 and October 12 before returning to New York to finish the reminder of its preseason.
Kyrie Irving and the Nets will tipoff the regular season on October 23 against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Barclays Center at 7:30pm EST.