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The Nets said Saturday that they found out about Kyrie Irving’s trade demand not from their teammate, but from Twitter.
Now, after having their franchise rocked by the All-Star’s sudden desire to leave — preferably before the trade deadline this coming Thursday — they were left to pick up the pieces and play with what’s left. And that doesn’t include Irving, who sat out Saturday against the Wizards with an injury that was as sudden as it was conspicuous.
“I was taking a nap and I looked in one of my group chats and I saw it and I was like, ‘Wow,’ ” starting center Nic Claxton said of how he learned of Irving’s trade request Friday. “Just caught me off guard. But it is what it is.”
Royce O’Neale also said he learned of Irving’s demand on social media, with no more advance notice than any average fan got.
“Same way [as] everybody else: Twitter,” said O’Neale. “[I was] surprised. But I mean, it’s a new day. We get the hoop today.”
The Nets had to hoop with a gutted roster. They were already without Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons and T.J. Warren due to injuries before Irving’s injury surfaced. Even Friday, after Irving told the Nets he wanted to be traded, he was not listed in the injury report against Washington.
“I said to them, we’re not gonna make this weird. We’re here to play, we’re here to do a job, show up and do your job,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. “I said you’ve done the first step of this thing is we’re here, we’re showing up.
