Kyrie Irving Won't Travel with Nets for NBA Restart Amid Shoulder Injury Rehab

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving will continue his recovery from shoulder surgery rather than participate in the NBA's restart.

"The best thing for them is to not attend Orlando, to rehab and continue that process back in Brooklyn or wherever they may be right now," Nets general manager Sean Marks said, per Bleacher Report's Yaron Weitzman.

Irving wasn't expected to join his teammates in Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, for the restart.

His shoulder injury was considered serious enough to end his season, and he hasn't played since February. Putting the six-time All-Star back on the court for a limited amount of games following such a lengthy layoff didn't make sense.

Kevin Durant is being similarly cautious and not playing after missing all of 2019-20 because of a ruptured Achilles.

Brooklyn originally looked to be in a decent spot heading into the restart. The Nets have a six-game cushion on the ninth-place Washington Wizards with eight seeding games on the docket.

However, interim head coach Jacque Vaughn will be without a number of key players when his team resumes action.

The NBA announced June 4 its Board of Governors agreed to a plan to resume the season in Orlando. The news came amid worldwide protests focused on social justice initiatives.

Irving, who's a vice president in the National Basketball Players Association, raised concerns to his peers about whether staging NBA games would take focus from those causes.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews reported Irving and Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley were part of a players coalition seeking commitments from the NBA and its partners to address issues related to racial inequality.

The NBA subsequently released a statement on June 24 to say it had met with the NBPA to discuss ways "to increase Black representation across the NBA and its teams, ensure greater inclusion of Black-owned and operated businesses across NBA business activities, and form an NBA foundation to expand educational and economic development opportunities across the Black community."