Why does irving wear a face mask

It would cost the Lakers as they went on to lose in overtime against the Pistons. Irving would finish with what was a career-high 41 points, shooting of from the field. Although not the return of the black mask so to speak, Joel Embiid would wear a high-tech mask following an orbital facture during the NBA season. The sophisticated dynamic mask was made of both carbon and polycarbonate and was made complete with a set of goggles.

Embiid missed close to a month of basketball due to a broken left eye socket before returning for the NBA playoffs.

Before the days of contact lenses and corrective eye surgery, players needed to wear prescription goggles to help them see. Nowadays goggles are rarely used although they still remain in use in combination with an integrated facial mask. While playing for the University of California in , Abdul-Jabbar had his cornea scratched.

He would develop corneal erosion syndrome resulting in his eyes beginning to dry out easily. Abdul-Jabbar would score the most points in NBA history 38, and with that, made his goggle trademark as popular as his skyhook shot.

He suffered from nearsightedness and has stated that he was legally blind. Kyrie Irving first played with a mask in after breaking his jaw in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. In his first game back from the injury, he debuted his mask during a monster performance where he put up 41 points at Madison Square Garden. Irving also had to wear a mask starting on November 14, , when former teammate Aron Baynes elbowed him while trying to block then-Hornets guard Kemba Walker.

According to Irving, he was hit before the game even started, not by a teammate or an opponent, but by his infant daughter. While these injuries may not be related, one comforting is that Irving knows how to play with a mask. More info. Irving returned to action this evening to face the Brooklyn Nets and scored a game-high 25 points to help the Celtics to their 13th consecutive win. GameTime pic. Irving was later diagnosed with a minor facial fracture. After breaking his jaw in Dec. Broken facial bones are a rare byproduct of the physical nature of basketball, and it happens to some of the best.

In , Russell Westbrook took an elbow to the face that fractured his left cheekbone.