NBA side Brooklyn Nets on Thursday ruled that star Kyrie
Irving will undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder.
ESPN news report that Nets General Manager Sean Marks said
the decision was made after Irving had visited with a specialist in the past
few days.
“He’s obviously upset about this, and we are here to
support him, support the process moving forward with him and the
rehabilitation,” Marks said.
Marks added, “He saw specialists including our people
at [New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery] and it has been a group consensus
that at this point in time, and this juncture, this is the best course of
action.”
The General Manager also said that this decision was reached
at, having put Irvin’s long term health as the club’s number one priority.
“I think we look at our players’ long-term health as
the No. 1 priority. Kyrie has been adamant like the rest of us that he would
take one cortisone shot and see how it goes,” Marks said.
He added that his health for the next years should be
guaranteed for his benefits and the club’s.
“We are looking at the big picture here. We are not
looking at the next 2-3 months. We are looking at the next 2-3 years,” the
manager added.
Irving joined the Nets as a free agent last summer, playing
in just 20 games in his first season in Brooklyn.
He missed 26 games over the span of nearly two months with a
right shoulder impingement, before eventually returning in mid-January
following a cortisone shot.
Source: ESPN