Kyrie Irving's 'Spirits High' With Return From Suspension Undetermined

Brooklyn Nets head coach, Jacque Vaughn remains unsure when Kyrie Irving will return to the team but his teammates are hopeful it will be soon.

Brooklyn Nets superstar guard, Kyrie Irving will serve the fifth game of his at-least five-game suspension against the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. 

The Nets' head coach, Jacque Vaughn was noncommittal about whether the suspended guard will make his return sometime during the four-game West Coast road trip. 

"No updates on my end, organizationally that I've been told," said Vaughn after Friday's practice. "And so we're going to go with what we've been doing, and next game."

Vaughn has yet to speak with Irving since the team handed the guard the team suspension. He believes giving the suspended guard some space while he focuses on the group is the best thing to do. 

"I have not talked to him," Vaughn stated. "Focus has been on this group, and I think that’s sometimes the best: give someone space and focus on the task and the group at hand.

"I'm not gonna lock myself into saying that," added Vaughn on whether he plans to speak to Irving before he returns to the team. "But what I will do is: the majority of my effort just like today, is with the group that's with us right now."

Irving's teammates have spoken to him while he's serving the team suspension. Nic Claxton, who has a strong relationship with the all-star caliber guard, said Irving is 'doing well' and his 'spirits are high.' Like many, the young big man doesn't know when Irving is returning to the team. 

“I have no idea," Claxton said. "I didn’t ask any of that, I’m just checking in on my brother and seeing how he’s doing, so I don’t know.”

Royce O'Neale echoed the same statement about how Irving is feeling. The veteran wing is hoping Irving returns to the team during the four-game road trip so the Nets can build more chemistry. 

“Hopefully," O'Neale said. "We just want everybody to come back together and have the team continue to keep building chemistry and keep moving forward.”