A former Duke basketball star reached a feat for the first time in his career.
Not all milestones and feats are positive, and former Duke basketball star Kyrie Irving experienced that for the first time in his NBA career on Saturday night.
Early in the third quarter of the ABC Saturday Night Showcase between the Brooklyn Nets (37-16) and Los Angeles Lakers (33-20), Irving was ejected along with Lakers guard Dennis Schröder after the two got in a heated confrontation.
The ejection was the first time in the professional career of Kyrie Irving that he has been ejected from the game, and there has been speculation that a racial slur was used during the altercation, which set Irving into a frenzy.
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Prior to the ejection, Irving had 18 points in 21 minutes in addition to four rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 from 3-point range.
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Brooklyn struggled mightily in the second half without its All-Star guard as the Nets were without James Harden (hamstring) and have Kevin Durant on a minutes restriction following his return from an extended absence due to a hamstring injury.
Los Angeles was without superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis while also missing role players Kyle Kuzma and Marc Gasol as the Lakers pulled away for a convincing 126-101 victory.
Duke basketball superstar will remain sidelined
There was no suspension handed down by the NBA following the dust-up between the two players, but Kyrie Irving will not play in the next game for the Brooklyn Nets.
The team announced its guard’s pending absence on Sunday afternoon due to personal reasons.
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Brooklyn is scheduled to play the Minnesota Timberwolves (14-40) on Monday, April 12 at 8:00pm EST, but no announcement has been made for Irving’s status on Wednesday, April 14 against the Philadelphia 76ers (36-17) at 7:00pm (ESPN).
Monday’s absence will be the third time Irving has missed a game due to personal reasons this season, but his other two departures from the team have been for more than one game.
Kyrie Irving is averaging 27.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.2 steals per game for the Nets on 51.4-percent shooting from the floor and 39.8-percent from 3-point territory.