Nets' Irving won't face Lakers due to facial fracture
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving will not face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in Saturday's NBA preseason fixture after aggravating a facial fracture.
Irving left Brooklyn's 114-111 win over the Lakers early on Thursday due to the problem he suffered over the offseason.
The Nets announced on Friday that Irving will not feature against the Lakers at Shenzhen Dayun Arena in China.
Irving suffered the injury just one minute into Thursday's contest after being bumped by Lakers guard Rajon Rondo. He did not record a point, rebound or assist.
This is not Irving's first run-in with this kind of injury.
The 27-year-old point guard suffered a minor facial fracture playing for the Boston Celtics in November 2017 after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face during a game.
He also broke his jaw in December 2012 while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Whether this problem will affect his success in his first season with the Nets remains to be seen.
Irving signed a four-year, $141million deal in the offseason alongside Kevin Durant, who also signed a max contract but will likely miss all of 2019-20 recovering from an Achilles injury.
A six-time All-Star, Irving has averaged 22.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in his career.