Kobe Bryant’s death left the entire NBA grieving and shaken. Nets coach Kenny Atkinson choked up before his team’s game against the Knicks, and Spencer Dinwiddie teared up after it. But Kyrie Irving got hit as hard as any, leaving the Garden altogether before the Nets’ 110-97 loss.
Sunday was to be Irving’s first game in the Garden since spurning the Knicks for the Nets this summer. But the game was played under a pall after Bryant and daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash. And it was played without Irving, who bolted the building altogether after the news.