Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant’s Playing Status vs. Sixers

Will the Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Ben Simmons trio face the Sixers on Monday?

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets will fire up their preseason on Monday night with a division rivalry matchup.

Considering it’s preseason, the stakes aren’t high for the game, as a win or loss won’t count towards Philly or Brooklyn’s record for the 2022-2023 season.

Despite the game being considered a meaningless matchup in terms of winning or losing, the matchup will draw a lot of interest, considering the Nets will debut their mid-season acquisition from last year.

Former Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons couldn’t debut for Brooklyn last year. As Simmons looked to ramp up his conditioning to get back on the floor, he suffered a back injury, which required surgery at the end of the season.

Although Simmons underwent surgery months ago, he was a full participant at Nets’ training camp and is on pace to play in Monday night’s game, barring any last-minute decisions.

As for Brooklyn’s other two stars, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, they are also available to play. According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, just two players are listed on Brooklyn’s injury report against the Sixers. Neither of them are Durant or Irving.

Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Ben Simmons will all play in the Nets’ preseason opener tomorrow. Yay.

— Alec Sturm (@Alec_Sturm) October 2, 2022

Over the offseason, both Durant and Irving’s futures with the Nets were in question. As Irving’s contract option decision was looming, the star guard sought out possible sign-and-trade scenarios before eventually picking up his player option for the upcoming season.

As for Durant, he demanded a trade ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft. While the star forward reiterated his desire to be moved after a lack of legitimate negotiations with other organizations, Durant ultimately decided to move forward with Brooklyn after they failed to find a deal worth their time.

Irving and Durant likely won’t garner a ton of minutes on Monday night if the Nets commit to playing them — but Brooklyn will probably take the opportunity to get the trio of Irving, Simmons, and Durant some minutes together — offering spectators of preview of what’s to come in the regular season. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.