The Nets will be reminded of one of the most chaotic times in their history if Kyrie Irving makes his return on Tuesday at Barclays Center — a year after forcing himself out of Brooklyn to join the Mavericks.
There is no clear guess as to how Brooklyn fans will react to the point guard, who, when he did play, lit up the floor while averaging 27.1 points on 48.9 percent shooting for the Nets.
On the other hand, his tenure in Brooklyn was beset with injuries and off-the-court controversies — like tweeting a link to an anti-Semitic film and refusing to get a COVID vaccination — that led to suspensions and other absences.
“It’s a lot of different emotions,” Nic Claxton told The Post about the possibility of Irving’s playing Tuesday night. “Obviously, he missed a lot of games for various different reasons. But he was always a good mentor to myself and our relationship transcends basketball.”
Irving, who had missed the Mavs’ previous six games with a thumb injury, was in the lineup against the 76ers on Monday.
If he plays on Tuesday it will be just the 23rd time in 50 games this season that Irving and Luka Doncic will appear in the same games this season.
Irving played just 143 games across 3 ¹/₂ seasons with the Nets, as he refused to get a COVID vaccination despite the league’s mandates in the 2020-21 and ’21-22 seasons and he also sat out during his final year due to his promotion of an anti-Semitic film.
The initial lack of apology for promoting the film earned him a suspension from the Nets and owner Joe Tsai.
When the Nets faced the Mavericks in Dallas on Oct. 27, the eight-time All-Star said there was never any bad blood between him and the organization.
“I was never on bad terms with the organization. I just think there was a lot of chaos and noise, as usual, from the media,” Irving said. “I’m not going to blame you guys or anything, but nobody really knew what was going on behind the scenes. I’m sure that people have their sources they go to [about] what was going on and what really happened.
“But for me, it was the best decision of my career to ask for a trade. I knew I needed peace of mind.”
Paired with Kevin Durant and James Harden, the trio was acquired with the hope of delivering the Nets their first NBA title.
Instead, they only managed one playoff series win against Boston, which was followed by a semifinal round loss to the Bucks in the 2020-21 season.
After the bust of what was the Big 3, the Nets were forced to rebuild. But the saga didn’t cloud Irving’s former teammates’ opinion of him.
“A lot,” Royce O’Neale said about what he took away from his time with Irving. “Even from the first moment when I was here, him being a great dude on and off the court. Being one of the leaders that we had. His work ethic and the way he plays, it’s fun to watch. Just being around him, seeing his success and keep going, I’m happy for him.
“His overall skill set. His handle. He’s able to manipulate the defense and just pretty much his overall offensive game.
Irving entered Monday averaging 25.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game in 27 games this season.
Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie will also be facing familiar faces on Tuesday night.
Finney-Smith played in Dallas for seven seasons before he was traded to Brooklyn in 2022 while Dinwiddie was there for 2 ¹/₂ seasons.