Another season, another injury for Kyrie Irving.
The Cleveland Cavaliers point guard and former Duke standout suffered a right ankle injury during a Cavaliers practice before the team flew to Rio de Janeiro for an exhibition game Saturday, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
X-rays on Irving's ankle were negative, and his status for Saturday's contest is uncertain, though he told The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Chris Hynes that the injury was not serious. The top pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Irving has missed significant time due to various ailments in his three seasons in Cleveland and has played fewer than 60 games in each of the past two seasons. The most recent injury comes at an inopportune time for Irving, who had been playing some of the best basketball of his career of late, earning MVP honors at the FIBA World Cup after leading Team USA to a gold medal.
If Irving is unable to play Saturday, it would diminish the subplot surrounding one of the most-hyped games of the NBA preseason. Cleveland tips off against Miami in Rio de Janeiro in the first meeting between the remaining two-thirds of the old Big Three in Miami—Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh—and the new Big Three in Cleveland—LeBron James, Irving and Kevin Love.
Prior to the injury, Irving had also been hard at work off the court, throwing down a vicious Nerf-ball alley-oop.
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