Nets' Kyrie Irving to have shoulder surgery, will miss rest of season

PHILADELPHIA — Kyrie Irving’s first star-crossed season with the Nets since signing with them as a free agent on June 30 ended abruptly on Thursday. General manager Sean Marks announced Irving will undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery to repair his right shoulder impingement. Irving played only 20 games before the All-Star break and now will spend the rest of the season on the sidelines with fellow superstar Kevin Durant, who will miss the whole season to recover from Achilles tendon surgery.
“Kyrie has spent the last few days visiting with a specialist, and it has been determined he will have arthroscopic surgery and will be out for the remainder of the season,” Marks told reporters before the Nets played the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. “He’s obviously upset about this, and we are here to support him and the process moving forward with him and rehabilitation.
“He saw specialists, including our people at [Hospital for Special Surgery], and it has been a group consensus that, at this point in time, this is the best course of action.”
Asked if the impingement might involve any problem with a rotator cuff or might involve shaving bones that are scraping each other, Marks declined to get into specifics. He also did not set a timetable for recovery except to say, “He should be back in plenty of time to be working out this summer and obviously be ready for next season.”
Irving’s initial Nets season began with a facial injury when he caught an inadvertent elbow during practice in the preseason. After the season began, he suffered a right shoulder injury against the Pelicans on Nov. 4. He played through the pain for four more games before missing the next 26 straight games.
Irving took a cortisone shot on Dec. 24 to ease the pain and returned to action on Jan. 12, playing nine of the next 11 games before spraining his right knee on Feb. 1 at Washington and missing the last five games before the All-Star break. In the 20 games he played, Irving averaged 27.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists, but the Nets (25-28) were 8-12 in those games.
Marks said there was no consideration of Irving taking another cortisone shot to try and get to the end of the season before surgery. “No, I think we look at our players’ long-term health as the number one priority,” Marks said. “We are not looking at the next two or three months. We are looking at the next two or three years…I give him a lot of credit for trying the cortisone shot first and continuing to go out there and play and contribute as much as he could.”
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said he was “very disappointed” for Irving and the team. “Tough blow,” Atkinson said. “We’ll have to close ranks and guys are going to have to step up.”
The Nets currently are in the seventh playoff spot in the Eastern Conference even without having Irving much of the season. Before Irving suffered his sprained knee just before the All-Star break, Atkinson said Irving was dealing with shoulder pain as the effects of the cortisone wore off.
“Yes, we had conversations,” Atkinson said. “That still bothers me a little bit. And then, there were other days where (he said), ‘It feels good.’ I can’t give you the timeline, there was no specific incident. I just think some days it was okay, and other days, it bothered him. Obviously, it’s difficult to perform under those circumstances.”
Now, it’s a case of wait until next year for Irving as well as Durant, who has shown sign of progress during individual workouts. Marks quashed any speculation about a Durant comeback later this season, saying, “Nothing’s changed on that front. Kevin certainly remains out.”

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.