“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean…”
-William Shakespeare, from Romeo & Juliet
Rumor has it that Kyrie Irving & Klay Thompson are set to make their NBA season debuts this week with the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors, respectively. Save for a few clear similarities, each player’s journey back into NBA action couldn’t be more different. Both are returning from an unusually long absence. Both are coming back from major layoffs in the prime years of their careers. Both are former NBA champions and could potentially collect more rings since they are returning to current title contending franchises. Neither are the best scoring option for their team even though both could go off for a 60 point performance on any given night. Both are recognized by their first names only, beginning with a capital “K.”
Klay’s return is one with minimal controversy: the man got injured. Grant it, it was a pretty severe injury with a lengthy recovery time. And the timing was pretty terrible since he has been an integral part of a championship dynasty that has yet to win a title since his departure. But then again, there is never really a good time to tear an ACL and miss two years of productivity because of it. Klay comes back to the Golden State Warriors, still with Draymond Green and his impressive amounts of feistiness and effectiveness, and still with Steph Curry at the helm continuing to break shooting and scoring records on a nightly basis. Additionally, Klay’s building of a hall-of-fame career via catch-and-shoot 3s whilst everyone else awes at his GOAT-level teammate is guided by head coach Steve Kerr who built his own playing career doing exactly that. All in all, the stage is set for Klay’s return and the rolled out carpet could not be more red in preparation for it. In fact, the Warriors literally moved to a new arena in a richer district since the time that Klay has been rehabbing. The only thing left to do is sit back and witness his redemption unveiling in real time.
Kyrie’s return, on the other hand, is the definition of controversy. In any other era of professional sports, Kyrie’s career would be unblemished by these types of absences. But Kyrie cares deeply about a couple topics that are prevalent in this day and age: mental health and COVID vaccines. These two topics have been the hill that Kyrie chose to die on, so that made for an easy decision to opt out of his coveted spot in the Nets’ starting lineup alongside NBA megastars Kevin Durant & James Harden. Make no mistake, Kyrie is a wizard on the court. But he is also an eccentric personality off of it and he does not mind blurring the lines between his professional and personal endeavors. Kyrie Irving is an educated man that has achieved a mountain of success doing things his own way; possibly the first bohemian NBA superstar in history. The man spat in the face of the NBA’s one-and-done rule by committing to powerhouse Duke University and then sitting out of 70% the season’s 37 games… then got drafted #1. He infamously stood toe-to-toe against Kobe in Team USA’s pre-Olympics training camp and against LeBron on his way out of Cleveland. He trolled the media with his talks about whether or not the earth is flat even though that had nothing to do with anything basketball related. Nothing about Kyrie’s absence should be surprising… or disingenuous.
Both comebacks will be exciting. Both will be riveting. Both will be provocative. What will come of each player and each team is yet to be determined. Klay’s limits are physical, Kyrie’s limits are anything but. Regardless though, as the NFL wraps up its final month of play and the MLB awaits its return in the Spring, sports fans get a couple of jesters in Klay & Kyrie to entertain the crowd during this brief intermission in major team sports drama.
