Nets' Jacque Vaughn on Kyrie Irving: 'He is Extremely Engaged'

Through the first 29 games of the regular season, it's been a segmented start for Brooklyn Nets superstar guard Kyrie Irving.

Just like the team, Irving has had some rough patches in the early portion of the regular season. Shortly after the Nets parted ways with ex-head coach Steve Nash after a 2-5 start, Irving was handed a team suspension for posting a link to a documentary with antisemitic material and failing to publicly apologize for his actions.

The suspension, which was initially labeled as an at-least five-game team suspension turned into eight games, which spanned 16 days away from the team. Since returning to the team and taking action to get reinstated by the organization, the seven-time NBA All-Star has played in 12 games, helping Brooklyn pave a 9-3 record in that time frame.

Irving, who didn't miss a beat when he returned to the court, has looked comfortable and engaged in those 12 games. The Nets' head coach Jacque Vaughn praised his 30-year-old guard's consistency across that stretch. Vaughn also explained how Irving's transition back to the team and on the hardwood wasn't seamless.

"We just got to think about everything that transpired kind of for him, whether that was what training camp looked like, the build-up to what his normal routine would look like in the offseason, missing games, getting incorporated back into the group so hasn't been seamless as far as his transition and how he got back in the mix," said Vaughn on Irving Wednesday morning.

"But since he's been with us full-time, it's been pretty consistent. I think each ballplayer wants consistency. That's what his approach is. The offseason now is over with and now the recovery days look a little differently, his minutes look a little differently and yes, he is extremely engaged."

Irving is averaging 25.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.1 blocks in 36.8 minutes per game this season. He is shooting 47.9 percent from the field, 32.7 percent from 3-Point range, and 91.8 percent from the free-throw line.