More on Kyrie Irving Injury
According to multiple sources, Kyrie Irving threatened to sit out the season and have surgery on his knee, convincing Gilbert and Cleveland's front office that the relationship with Irving was not salvageable. Irving's agent, Jeff Wechsler, declined to discuss what was said to the Cavs with cleveland.com, and Dan Gilbert did not personally respond to a request seeking comment.
According to sources, Kyrie Irving needs minor knee surgery as a follow to the procedure he underwent during the 2015 Finals to repair his broken knee cap. It's not pressing -- Irving is averaging 24.5 points and shooting a career-high .477 from the field -- but the procedure would ease some of the swelling and day-to-day pain he feels. Such a procedure is typically done in the offseason; but he threatened to not come to training camp (first reported by ESPN) and then have the procedure during the season, leaving the Cavs without a point guard. The Cavs chose to move Irving rather than call his bluff, which upset LeBron James, sources said.
Sean Grande: Kyrie Irving (shoulder) will play today. So, there's that.
Scott Souza: #Celtics Kyrie Irving: Structurally everything is good in my shoulder. I am going to do what is best, take a few days to strengthen it up even more, and hopefully go on Sunday.
Scott Souza: #Celtics coach Brad Stevens confirms NO Kyrie Irving tonight with shoulder soreness.
Marc D'Amico: #NEBHInjuryReport: Brad Stevens says Kyrie Irving will play tonight against Denver.
Chris Forsberg: Celtics say Al Horford will sit out Wednesday vs Nuggets for rest. Kyrie Irving (quad) is probable. Marcus Morris (knee) is out again.
On one brutal Friday night in November, all of Australia smacked Kyrie right in the face. The Melbourne native caught an errant elbow from Far East Queensland native Aron Baynes and suffered a small fracture in his face below his right eye. But the blows didn’t stop on the floor, as he was given an unfortunate welcome home from his young daughter. “My daughter hit me in my face the other day and, that right there, I almost teared up,” Irving said. “I did my absolute best not to cry in front of her. I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, baby.’ She hit me right on that spot. Like, literally right after. I came home and I was trying to put her to bed and she hit me right on that spot by mistake.”
The Boston Celtics are planning for point guard Kyrie Irving to play Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets after missing their last game with a facial fracture. Irving participated in the Celtics' shootaround Tuesday morning and told reporters that he plans to wear a mask for Boston's game in Brooklyn.
Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving will likely miss Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors because of a facial fracture but plans to get fitted for a mask and play through the injury, league sources told The Vertical. Irving suffered the minor facial fracture in the first minute of Friday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets when he was inadvertently hit in the face by teammate Aron Baynes. Irving is expected to have to wear the protective mask for two weeks, sources said.
Chris Forsberg: Celtics say Kyrie Irving suffered a minor facial fracture vs Charlotte. He is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game vs Raptors.
Irving was attended to by Celtics trainer Art Horne and left the court clutching a towel over his bloodied face. The Celtics later ruled Irving out for the remainder of the game.
Marla Ridenour: #Cavs Lue said he was told Shumpert & Irving not serious. Called both fine. Shump day to day. "Ended up being pretty lucky considering.."
Ben Standig: Kyrie Irving is starting as expected. Missed last game with a thigh injury.
Sources said the team likely would not sign one of the free agents (Jordan Farmar, Mario Chalmers, Kirk Hinrich) who tried out last week to a 10-day contract in response to Irving's injury, essentially because Irving isn't really hurt.
The Cavs' PR staff called Irving's injury "right quad soreness," while coach Tyronn Lue said it was a "thigh contusion" that kept Irving out of Cleveland's 111-104 win over the Knicks. At any rate, Irving told cleveland.com "I'm fine" and "I'm playing Monday" against the Washington Wizards.
Joe Vardon: Kyrie Irving (right quad soreness) is out tonight.
Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving will miss his second straight game with a right hamstring injury, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said during his pregame media session Monday before Cleveland hosted the New Orleans Pelicans. "Hamstring tightness," Lue said.
When a reporter asked if Irving's status has improved since he originally hurt the hamstring Thursday after colliding with LeBron James during a game against the Boston Celtics, Lue reiterated, "Just hamstring tightness." Lue said he did not know yet whether Irving would be available for Wednesday's game against the Chicago Bulls.
Michael Grange: Tyronn Lue: says Kyrie Irving's foot is fine ...
Kyrie Irving injured his left foot in the second half of the Cleveland Cavaliers' 115-101 Game 6 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday but vows he will be ready for Game 7 on Sunday in Oakland, California. "I'm good," Irving said when asked about his foot after putting up 23 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in the win. "I'm good, yeah. I'm good. I'm OK."
Chris Haynes: Kyrie Irving to go through shootaround before determining if he can play tonight against Bucks. Every other #Cavs player available.
Kyrie Irving will miss Cleveland's game against the New York Knicks to rest. Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said the point guard would sit out at the team's morning shootaround Saturday. He also says Mo Williams could return from a left knee injury but a decision wouldn't be made until after the guard warmed up.
Those within the Cavs have referred to Irving as a Maserati, and the torque he generates on his cuts is overwhelming. When he cut on Thompson, his knee blew out — a fractured kneecap — and Irving immediately knew the consequences. “I knew at that moment I was done,” he said. “I knew it.”
Irving felt his right knee, then his left. The left one didn’t feel the same. He told Steve Spiro, the team trainer, he needed to go back to the locker room. “As I’m walking and my adrenaline and my body started to slow down, I’m like, ‘This is it right here,’ ” he said. “I’m done.”
Kyrie Irving will again sit out Tuesday’s game at the Denver Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back, but he is preparing as if that’s the last game he misses this season. Irving will return to the starting lineup tonight when the Cavs play at the Phoenix Suns. “That’ll be the last time I sit out back-to-backs,” he said, “and hopefully the last two games I miss for the rest of the season.” The Cavs don’t have another back-to-back scheduled for more than two weeks when they play at the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets in mid-January.
Dave McMenamin: Kyrie Irving will not play tonight vs POR, source tells ESPN. No setback, just planned rest in the b2b as part of his return process.
Jason Lloyd: Kyrie Irving out tonight for #Cavs, per source. Not playing in back to backs right now. @Dave McMenamin first
Kyrie Irving: I'm back.
Marc J. Spears: It looks like Kyrie Irving will make his season debut tomorrow versus Sixers and be in uniform vs Warriors on Xmas. twitter.com/kyrieirving/st…
Iman Shumpert: Let's go broooooo! Hardy brothers for life ya heard!!!!
The stage is set for Kyrie Irving to make his long-awaited season debut Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia 76ers. Although nothing is official, Irving, 23, has done all that's asked of him. The team continues to say he needs to pass a few more tests, but sources say the fifth-year point guard has been ready, and his teammates have played a major role to get him there. The Cleveland Cavaliers, winners of their last four games and sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference, executed their plan to perfection during Irving's recovery from knee surgery: They have played well and kept unnecessary pressure to return from creeping into Irving's head.
Chris Fedor: #Cavs head coach David Blatt says the matchup against OKC was not a factor in keeping Kyrie Irving out. No date yet for his debut
Randy Renner: Cavs say both Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert OUT tonight vs #Thunder and Mo Williams questionable with sprained thumb
Kyrie Irving: Sorry to dwindle the news, but I won't be returning tmrw. It was wrongfully reported. When I do come back you'll hear it directly from me.
A source familiar with Kyrie Irving's rehabilitation told ESPN.com the fifth-year guard is “ready to play” both mentally and physically and has been that way for about the last week. Yet, Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt said after practice Sunday that “we won’t see” Irving on the court Tuesday against the Boston Celtics.
Does that mean that the Thunder game is already ruled out for Irving? No. He could play. Then again, a source familiar with the Cavs’ thinking told ESPN.com he wouldn’t mind if Irving sat out until February if it meant his chances of being healthy for an extended playoff run would increase.
Kyrie Irving should make his return within the next week, likely Dec. 20 against the Philadelphia 76ers if not before. Irving will not play Tuesday when the Cavs face the Boston Celtics, coach David Blatt said.
There is a chance he could play Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, although it seems more likely at this point the Cavs will hold him out until Sunday against the Sixers, one team source said. Irving practiced with the second team Sunday and participated in multiple shooting drills with LeBron James following a lengthy practice. He seems ready to play now, but the Cavs don't see a need in rushing him back. He certainly seems on track to be in the starting lineup for the Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors.
Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert could play on the team's upcoming two-game road trip, which starts on Friday against the Orlando Magic and finishes Tuesday in Boston. "There's a chance that one or two or both will play on the trip, but there's also a chance they don't," head coach David Blatt said Thursday. "We'll see how they're feeling." Both Irving and Shumpert went through a full practice on Thursday, the final workout before the team left for Orlando, and both made the trip.
Cleveland.com is told that Shumpert is slightly ahead of Irving in terms of recovery. Since Shumpert is coming back from a wrist injury and Irving a knee injury, the three-time All-Star's road to full health has been tougher.
Shumpert has been able to maintain his conditioning throughout the process. That hasn't been the case with Irving. Though no one within the organization is willing to say it, I'm told that having both activated in time for the Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors is a strong possibility.
Irving, who hasn't played since breaking his left kneecap in the NBA Finals, is finally fully cleared to practice and said Thursday that he's moving toward his return. But Irving would not commit to exactly when he'll make his season debut. "You're not getting anything out of me," he said, smiling. "No percentages, no target dates, nothing. I'm feeling good. Personally, I'm in a great place just being able to be out here and practice with the guys, being able to go up and down and continuously, as well."
Adam Zagoria: Cavs PG Kyrie Irving is expected to return before January, source tells @SNYtv
Kyrie Irving played a set of modified 1-on-1 games against LeBron James after the Cleveland Cavaliers' shootaround Saturday and “destroyed him,” a team source told ESPN.com. They weren’t true games of 1-on-1 in the sense that only one dribble was allowed per possession, thus rendering James’ significant size advantage moot as he couldn’t simply back Irving down with his dribble and post him up. Games finished with the first player to score three baskets.
Chris Fedor: #Cavs Kyrie Irving is doing some shooting work following shootaround this morning. https://t.co/TETFimKdMC
"Everyone's going to formulate their own opinions based on injuries," Irving said. "You think about injuries whether they have them when they're young, or old, or in the middle, it's part of the game. For me, I know exactly what I'm doing in the weight room and exactly what I'm doing to prepare myself for the court, and if something happens, that's just part of the game. If I go out there and bump knees with someone and get a knee contusion and have to miss a game, and then I sprain my ankle, those aren't things that can be planned. You just do the best you can to prevent it. For me, everyone putting in the notion of breaking down, I'm nowhere near close to breaking down I can be completely honest with that. I'll just let my game on the court and my work ethic speak for all that. I'll never not put myself in a position to be successful for my teammates and for my organization. I could see if I wasn't putting in 100 percent effort in doing everything possible to prevent injuries, then cool, everyone can have their opinion and I'd start believing it. But no way will I start believing that my body will break down and I can't be better every single year."
"Whether (my return is) in December, or whether that's in January, I have to eventually test out my knee against competition," Irving said about the idea of being overly cautious.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving was recently cleared for unrestricted weight-bearing activities, league sources informed Cleveland.com. From here, the team's training staff can intensify his leg-strengthening assignments as it sees fit, I'm told.
After practice on Thursday, Cavaliers head coach David Blatt made it sound as if point guard Kyrie Irving isn't close to a return to action. "[We're] not rushing things and not letting up from the day-to-day work, but still a ways to go," he said. "And how much, I can't honestly tell you, but he's working at it every day."
ESPN Cleveland: Windhorst: Kyrie is doing some contact work. Scrimmaging 3-on-3. I expect him back in a couple of weeks. #Cavs
Sirius XM NBA: . @Brian Windhorst says on TSL that if this was a pressure situation he thinks Kyrie Irving could play right now, but the Cavs won't rush him
There was a report about Kyrie Irving not being ready to play until January. No one knows for sure, as Irving is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured knee cap. But the Cavs do expect him to play well before January. Of course, that can change once they see him in training camp.
The Cavaliers plan to work Kyrie Irving back into playing condition carefully and methodically as he recovers from a left kneecap fracture suffered in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Multiple league sources say his rehabilitation is going smoothly, but that the chances are slim of him being in the opening-night lineup against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 27. One source said he could very well be unavailable up until January.
Nearly two months after Kyrie Irving left Oracle Arena on crutches, his season coming to a dejecting end because of a fractured left kneecap, Irving was back on a basketball court. "Great," Irving said when asked how he is feeling following surgery in early June. "Taking it one day at a time. It's a process getting back to where I want to be. But I'm doing what I can here with the kids and that's all that matters. I started walking about a week ago so whether I was on crutches or not I was still going to be here for the kids."
