Kyrie Irving could miss the rest of the season

All the Kyrie Irving talk during the day on Wednesday was hopeful. It was optimistic. It involved how he could be back before the ACC season started and whether or not he could still be in contention for things like first team all-american or national player of the year.

That tone will likely change once some of Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski's comments from the postgame of the Blue Devil's win over Bradley make the rounds.

"Kyrie's injury is a serious one," Krzyzewski said after the game. "It's being evaluated by our medical team here at Duke and with medical people from different parts of the country who are experts in foot injuries. Some type of analysis should be done hopefully by a week to 10 days and a course of action will be taken based on that analysis.

"It's a serious injury. I can't say anything more because we are learning information but it is serious and whatever final decision is made will obviously what's in his best interest and his career. Not to save him for any period of time or whatever, but he could be out for a long time."

This is where Duke fans get nervous. When Coach K was asked whether or not Irving could be out the rest of the season, he responded: "He could be, he could be."


There are a lot of questions still to be answered regarding Irving's health, but what we do know is that his toe is not broken. He's got ligament damage, and anyone that has any experience with toe injuries -- either as an athlete or as a fan or an injured athlete -- can attest, toes are not easy to heel and they are even more difficult to predict.

The hope is that Irving will be back in 3-4 weeks. If that is the case, there is not much of an issue. This injury could not come at a more perfect time. Duke only plays three games between tonight and January 2nd, when they kick off ACC play with a home game against Miami FL. They don't really get tested in league play until Maryland visits on January 9th, and they don't have to travel for a league game until their trip to Florida State on January 12th.

Irving, who is currently in a walking boot, has a lot of time to get healthy.

And if he is able to return to the lineup by the start of conference play, there's no reason that he can't be in the running to win Player of the Year.

The question that becomes much more relevant after Coach K's comments is what happens to Duke if Irving is out for the year.

It goes without saying that the loss would be huge. Nolan Smith is capable of playing the point, as is Seth Curry, but neither of them are as athletic or as quick with the ball as Irving is. In terms of being a dynamic playmaker at the point guard position, there aren't many players in the country on Irving's level.

Having Smith and Curry -- as well as Andre Dawkins, who hit eight threes against Bradley -- means that Duke is about as well equipped as you can be to handle this kind of loss, but it changes their team's makeup. The Blue Devils won't play as fast and will likely rely more heavily on perimeter jumpers.

Without Irving, this team is still one of the best in the country and quite possibly still the favorite to win it all.

But the gap will be significantly smaller between the Blue Devils and the rest of the field.