We are now less than 4 weeks away from the NY Knicks‘ opening night and drama is just starting to once again ramp up in New York City.
Thankfully, it’s not the orange and blue in the midst of another problem.
It’s the cross-city rival Brooklyn Nets, who will potentially be without their star point guard Kyrie Irving due to his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Does Kyrie Irving’s refusal to get the jab mean big things for the NY Knicks?
Due to New York City health and safety protocols, unvaccinated athletes will not be allowed to play in games taking place in New York meaning Kyrie would miss more than half the season.
NYC is one of two cities to create this mandate as the Golden State Warriors have been introduced to it as well.
Andrew Wiggins had a religious exemption attempt as well.
I think it’s safe to say that we Knicks fans are pretty happy we don’t have to deal with the mess going on in Brooklyn.
With Irving potentially sidelined, here’s how that can help the Knicks in their efforts to once again finish as one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference.
Is Kyrie Irving disrupting the chemistry on the Brooklyn Nets?
Last year the Knicks finished 4th in the East behind the NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets.
One of those reasons is due to Nets’ all-star point guard Kyrie Irving who was indeed vital to Brooklyn making it to game seven in the second round last season (despite only playing one game in that series).
In his career as a Brooklyn Net, Irving has averaged 32 points and over 5 assists in 3 games against the Knicks.
All during contests that came down to the final buzzer.
It’s as clear as day that Kyrie always looks forward to games against the orange and blue and playing 4 games against the Nets without him on the floor could really make a big difference.
According to the NY Post, Brooklyn was expected to lead the NBA in wins with a fully healthy lineup.
Subtract one all-star and that total will without a doubt descend.
Nets teammates have come out to defend Kyrie saying they support whatever decision he makes and that they expect him to be vaccinated and ready to go for the season.
Despite this claim, I cannot see Irving’s self-entitlement not getting the best of him in this scenario.
According to multiple sources including Yahoo sports, Kyrie has been spreading COVID conspiracy theories online and has been leading a group to go against the mandate on vaccines being implemented by specific cities.
To top it all off, on Zoom at media day, Irving emphasized that he “didn’t want to create any distractions.”
This may be news to him, but this is all nothing but a distraction.
When you look at the Knicks, they haven’t brought up one controversial point and have said many times that they just want to be available and there for their teammates.
That is the mindset that gets you far not only off the court but in the standings as well.
As long as Kyrie Irving is spending his time creating excuses to not be on the floor, the Knicks are only going to benefit from it.
Kemba Walker can steal the NY spotlight away from Kyrie Irving
With the new addition of Kemba Walker, many NBA fans were looking forward to seeing Irving and Kemba go at it and see who is the better New York PG.
Now, with the loss of Kyrie, Kemba has the opportunity to thrive regardless of who the Nets decide to have guard him.
With James Harden’s injury history last year it is doubtful Brooklyn decides to have him bring the ball up and the skill level of Patty Mills does not provide much of a threat to Walker’s ability to thrive and be a floor general.
You could even consider Kemba Walker the best point guard in the Atlantic division when Kyrie is absent with Ben Simmons on his way out of Philadelphia.
It’s evident and clear as day that the Brooklyn Nets will be significantly worse without Kyrie Irving’s availability and the Knicks are in prime position to take full advantage.
In addition, we need to analyze the current state of both rosters.
As a result of NYC’s vaccine mandate, the Knicks have taken full initiative and gotten the entirety of their roster fully vaccinated.
Regardless of where you stand on that rule, New York accomplishing this is vital as it provides them with reduced protocols and has the entirety of their team available to them regardless of where they play throughout the duration of the year.
This allows the Knicks to establish a set ongoing rotation that they can continue to build on.
On the Brooklyn side of things, Kyrie not being available forces the Nets to have to switch things up from game to game.
There will be a new starter from time to time and someone who normally wouldn’t be in the rotation is going to have to step up and play extra minutes.
This will prevent the Nets from having a steady rhythm offensively and defensively as well as not allow chemistry to grow amongst the team.
The Nets could possibly finish behind the NY Knicks
As mentioned earlier, the Nets were one of three teams that finished higher than the Knicks in the Eastern Conference this past season.
The Nets specifically finished 7 games ahead of New York and finished tied for 1st in the league with 117.7 points per game.
Kyrie contributed 26.9 of those points and played nearly 35 minutes per game as well. Regardless of who fills Irving’s spot, it will be very difficult to match that level of contribution.
In all likelihood, Brooklyn’s team offensive stats will go down because of the sole fact that they could be without a superstar for more than half of the NBA season.
Inevitably, teams like New York will thrive and have an easier time climbing the rankings and creating easier initial playoff matchups for the team.
Yes, Kevin Durant and James Harden are still there, but Brooklyn is going to struggle when it comes to matching last year’s productiveness, and the Knicks are one of a handful of teams who will benefit.