Kyrie Irving: We don't have any expectations of Ben Simmons

Kristian Winfield: Kyrie Irving on Ben Simmons: “We don’t have any expectations of Ben. I’m not going home being like ‘Ben’s gonna be here Games 4-6.’ I don’t know how those reports come out. I’m not expecting him to do anything outside of just getting healthy, and if he is ready, great.”
Source: Twitter @Krisplashed

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
Kyrie Irving on stomping Celtics’ ‘Lucky,’ playing at TD Garden: ‘All is fair in competition. When emotions are running high, anything can happen’ masslive.com/celtics/2022/0… – 5:05 PM Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
New: Kyrie Irving wants #Celtics fans to move past his Boston era and “Reflect on some of the highlights I left at TD Garden that they can replay.” More from @SouichiTerada and I: masslive.com/celtics/2022/0… – 4:34 PM John Karalis @John_Karalis
New on BSJ – Video breakdown: How the Celtics offense can pick on Kyrie Irving
bostonsportsjournal.com/2022/04/15/vid… – 3:34 PM Brian Lewis @NYPost_Lewis
Kyrie Irving: “I wouldnt say we’d like to avoid them in any way. This is the best part of the story that could be written. We go against Boston & have a chance to redeem ourselves. They have a healthy team, we have a healthy team; now we get to see who’s (better).” #nets #celtics – 3:00 PM Brian Lewis @NYPost_Lewis
Kyrie Irving, on if he relished the role of Boston villain after stomping on Lucky: “All’s fair in competitions. When emotions are running high anything can happen, and I just want to go in there with a poise and a composure & not pay attention to any of the extra noise.” #Nets – 2:53 PM Stefan Bondy @SBondyNYDN
Kyrie Irving is returning (again) to Boston for the playoffs, where he’s been Enemy No. 1 among fans. He’s over it:
“I hope we could move past my Boston era and reflect on some of the highlights I left at TD Garden that they can replay. Move forward. Just a new paradigm, baby.” – 2:15 PM Alex Schiffer @Alex__Schiffer
Steve Nash is handling a possible return by Robert Williams the same way Ime Udoka is with Ben Simmons. He’ll worry about him when he has to. – 2:09 PM The Ringer @ringernba
Who had the better Prada fit: Julius Randle or Ben Simmons? #FullCourtFits
👕: https://t.co/ywLPgIWqoI pic.twitter.com/ZS5FTPSk03 – 2:05 PM Nick Friedell @NickFriedell
KD and Kyrie getting some shots up after practice. Nets went a little longer than usual today at practice. Kyrie just echoed what KD said yesterday — he doesn’t want to put extra pressure on Simmons. Nets will welcome him whenever he’s ready. pic.twitter.com/Afic9sCudU – 1:54 PM Kristian Winfield @Krisplashed
Kyrie Irving on Ben Simmons: “We don’t have any expectations of Ben. I’m not going home being like ‘Ben’s gonna be here Games 4-6.’ I don’t know how those reports come out. I’m not expecting him to do anything outside of just getting healthy, and if he is ready, great.” – 1:35 PM Alex Schiffer @Alex__Schiffer
Like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving has no expectations of Ben Simmons returning against Boston. Wants him to get healthy and they’ll go from there. – 1:31 PM Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
Appreciate everyone who dropped into our Celtics-Nets Q&A today. You can catch up on everything we discussed, from Ime Udoka’s defensive scheme against Kevin Durant to the potential return of Ben Simmons to our favorite MF DOOM track. theathletic.com/3247928/2022/0… – 1:15 PM Henry Abbott @TrueHoop
The Nets/Celtics X-factor won’t be Ben Simmons, it’s Robert Williams III. @David Thorpe says with Williams, Celtics would have been an easy pick. Instead he predicts a seven-game thriller: https://t.co/by6h6HrY4k pic.twitter.com/c1W4lkvPTd – 11:00 AM Stefan Bondy @SBondyNYDN
Viewership of Nets games on YES Network this season was up 95% from the 2018-19 season (AKA pre Kyrie and KD). Regular season games this season averaged 78,000 viewers in the New York market. In 2018-19, it was only 40,000 viewers. – 10:05 AM Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
New #Celtics mailbag features a closer look at Rob Williams potential return timing, strategies to defend KD and Kyrie and why are first round series spaced out so long? masslive.com/celtics/2022/0… – 8:34 AM Bill Simmons @BillSimmons
New BS Podcast!
—The Clippers curse, Ben Simmons advice, Round 1 best bets and half-baked ideas w/ @kevinwildes
—Devin Booker’s evolution, a Phoenix primer, and NBA life in the crazy 80s w/ Eddie Johnson aka @Eddie Johnson
open.spotify.com/episode/35Ndl4… – 8:26 AM Marc Berman @NYPost_Berman
James Harden-Ben Simmons hype and other top #NBA playoffs storylines nypost.com/2022/04/14/202… via @nypostsports – 10:03 PM John Hollinger @johnhollinger
🚨🚨 New Episode 🚨🚨
Hollinger & Duncan NBA Show with @Nate Duncan – Playoff extravaganza!
* Durant and Kyrie vs. Boston’s defense
* Worst mismatches – for both players and coaches
* How strong a favorite are Suns?
* Can Bucks repeat?
* And more!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pla… – 8:58 PM Ian Begley @IanBegley
Ben Simmons isn’t sprinting or doing any work with his teammates yet. But ‘as long as he’s on the court every day, there’s’ optimism about Simmons playing during the Nets-Celtics series: sny.tv/articles/sourc… – 7:31 PM CBS NBA @CBSSportsNBA
NBA Star Power Index: Kyrie Irving, CJ McCollum shine in play-in; Luka Doncic’s injury is nothing to fool with
cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-s… – 2:52 PM Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
There is a reported new target window for Ben Simmons return to the lineup during the Nets-Celtics series masslive.com/celtics/2022/0… – 2:32 PM Ben Rohrbach @brohrbach
I don’t see how the return of Ben Simmons could do anything but disrupt the Nets in the middle of a series against Boston. – 2:24 PM

More on this storyline

Kristian Winfield: Asked if Ben Simmons has been able to do anything more in practice today, Steve Nash said: “He hasn’t been able to do anything yet, so no.” #NetsWorld -via Twitter @Krisplashed / April 15, 2022 However, on Thursday, it was reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania that Simmons is hoping to play by Game 4 to Game 6, if needed, of the Celtics series. Ben Simmons hasn’t played in a professional basketball game since June 20, 2021. He’s remained out during the entire 2022 season due to a recurring back injury and mental health concerns. On the other hand, Nets teammate Kevin Durant does not think Simmons will be ready to play during the Celtics series. “Nah, I’m not expecting him to play,” Durant said, via SNY. “I’m not putting any pressure on Ben to come out there and hoop. I’m not expecting him to do anything but get his body right and get healthy as fast as he can. In my mind, I’m preparing as if we’re playing with the team we have.” -via Sports Illustrated / April 15, 2022 Nick Friedell: Nash: “There’s a chance Ben comes back, there’s a chance he doesn’t come back. So I think for us we got to focus on the group — support Ben and his journey to get back on the floor, but at the same time we don’t have time to lose focus on the group that’s playing.” -via Twitter @NickFriedell / April 14, 2022