Why Kendrick Believes Believes Nets Shouldn’t Bring Back Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving currently isn’t playing for the Nets, and Kendrick Perkins believes it’s in Brooklyn’s best interest to keep it that way moving forward.

Irving is amid a team-issued suspension in wake of a problematic social media post. The star guard faced significant backlash after promoting a film that features anti-Semitic themes and it took much longer than it should have for Irving to issue a legitimate apology.

The Nets reportedly put together a to-do list that Irving must complete in order to rejoin the team. Perkins, however, believes the risk of Irving negatively rubbing off on teammates should prompt Brooklyn to keep him away.

“At the end of the day, you can’t afford for them to have a slip-up and say something wrong in the media,” Perkins said Monday on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “You can’t afford for them to have a wrong tweet or answer a question that could actually jeopardize their career. I’m not taking anything away from Kyrie Irving. We know he’s a spectacular basketball player, but as we have known after the past couple of weeks, this situation at hand is bigger than the game of basketball. It’s bigger than that. So if I’m the Brooklyn Nets, I politely tell Kyrie Irving, ‘Hey, man. Just sit it out. Do whatever you gotta do. Do whatever you have to do and let us just rock out the rest of the season.’ Are the Brooklyn Nets gonna win a championship? No. But are they gonna be OK in the future? Probably so. But still, you cannot put those other guys in that locker room in harm’s way.”

Wednesday night’s home game against the New York Knicks will mark the Nets’ fourth consecutive game without Irving. Brooklyn previously stated the seven-time All-Star will be suspended for “at least” five games.