NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 31: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets in action against the Chicago Bulls at Barclays Center on January 31, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)Kyrie Irving has been elusive as ever this past week. But, the star point guard made a surprise appearance tonight — in a place you might not expect.
Irving was spotted at a virtual meeting for progressive Manhattan District Attorney candidate Tahanie Aboushi at 7 p.m. E.T. on Tuesday night. The rest of his Brooklyn Nets teammates tipped off at 7:30 against the Denver Nuggets.
Kyrie Irving appears to have attended a virtual event for Manhattan District Attorney candidate, Tahanie Aboushi, at 7 tonight.
The Nets tipped off against the Nuggets in Barclays at 7:30. https://t.co/5hHcWZIWik
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) January 13, 2021
OMG. Kyrie Irving spotted on Zoom event tonight with Cynthia Nixon and progressive justice reform District Attorney candidate @TahanieNYC. https://t.co/tpvCPzxqO8 pic.twitter.com/HmQUfhGCD3
— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) January 13, 2021
Tonight marks the fourth game in a row that Kyrie has missed for “personal reasons.” The All-Star PG first surprised his teammates and the NBA world on Thursday night when he refused to show up for the Nets’ matchup with Philadelphia.
Though it was never confirmed, reports state that Irving’s refusal to play is connected to the pro-Trump riots that rocked the Capitol on Wednesday. Tonight’s showing of support for a progressive New York politician could indicate some truth to these insider claims.
If you think Kyrie showing his face tonight means his return is coming soon — you’d be wrong.
On Monday night, videos surfaced of Irving maskless at a large family birthday party. If the NBA confirms that these videos were indeed taken last night, Irving would be forced into an isolation period and forced to miss at least the Nets’ next two games. By league rule, each game that he misses due to COVID-19 protocol violations will result in a $410 thousand fine.
Without Irving, Brooklyn was still able to claim a closely-contested 122-116 victory over the Nuggets.
