Kyrie Irving Injury Update: Celtics Star Looked 'Amazing' Training With Durant, Harden

The Boston Celtics are set to receive a major boost ahead of training camp later this month after Kyrie Irving was spotted playing 5-on-5 with fellow NBA stars Kevin Durant, James Harden and a host of Miami Heat players at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.

The point guard last played a competitive game on March 11 after which he was sidelined with knee pain that saw him miss the Celtics’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7.

Irving had to undergo two minor surgeries, first to remove a tension wire and the second to remove screws that were inserted during a knee surgery in 2015. The point guard sat out the final part of the 2017-18 season, but it can still be considered a successful debut campaign as he played a major role in helping the Celtics finish as the second seeds in the East.

The five-time All-Star has been in rehabilitation for the last few months and even limited his on-court involvement when he joined other NBA stars at a team USA minicamp earlier in the year. Irving, however, looks to be back in good physical shape as he played some 5-on-5 games with fellow NBA All-Stars Durant and Harden earlier in the week.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Mannix, Irving played with no restrictions, with the report also claiming that his return to action is earlier than his expected recovery date.

“From someone at the recent star-studded workout in Miami, Kyrie Irving looked 'amazing.' No restrictions, played for two straight days,” Mannix, an eyewitness to the training session, wrote on Twitter.

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge admitted recently that he expects both Irving and Gordon Hayward, who suffered a severe foot injury in the opening game of last season, to be back in time for the training camp that begins on Sept. 26.

The former Cavaliers point guard looks ready to get back into action and prepare for the new season, while Ainge also revealed that Hayward, who like Irving joined the Celtics last summer, is also up and running and ready to begin training with the rest of the squad.

"I don't want to hype it up too much, but I'm saying that if our training camp were starting today that they would be here today going full speed," Ainge told ESPN on Aug. 28, as quoted on CBS Sports. "It's not like they need an extra month. I think that they know they have an extra month, so they are sort of pacing themselves. They're playing as if to build up to that opening day of training camp [Sept. 26]."

Irving’s long-term future at the Celtics, meanwhile, has been a hot topic of discussion this off-season. The 2016 NBA champion declined to sign a new deal this summer and will now have the option of entering free agency in 2019 with talks that he could leave the Boston franchise.

The point guard, however, has made it clear his only focus at the moment is to get back to full fitness and lead the Celtics two steps further than they went last season. That is to make the NBA Finals and then go on to win the franchise’s 18th championship.