NBA Rumors: Brooklyn Nets are operating under the assumption that Kyrie Irving will miss home games this season.
A ruling by the state of New York has allowed Kyrie Irving to join the team in practices, but he’s still not eligible to play in home games until he is willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. And, over the weekend, it all but seemed like a closed issue – Kyrie isn’t taking it.
Of course, Kyrie can always change his mind if he wants. But at least for now, the Brooklyn Nets are operating under the assumption that Kyrie will not be taking the vaccine and, per New York state law, he won’t be able to participate in home games to start the season.
Nets coach Steve Nash says, as of now, team is operating under assumption that Kyrie Irving won’t be available for home games due to local vaccination ordinance. As he has said previously when asked about Irving, Nash notes that things can change at any moment.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 10, 2021
Could that change? Yes. Kyrie could elect to change that. Or even the state of New York can change its regulations, depending on what the next few months look like as it pertains to COVID-19.
Nevertheless, the Nets seem to be OK, at least at the moment, with this current reality. The team had previously hoped that with the season growing closer and closer that he would change his mind. At least for the time being, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
The interesting part of all this is waiting to see what the potential impact this will have for the team both on and off the floor. Will this create any type of fracture between any of the relationships between Kyrie and the front office or even between Kyrie and his teammates?
Just when it seemed as if the Nets were going to cruise to a championship this season, there’s a huge wrench that is thrown into the mix. Part of the beauty of the Nets’ experience is watching how it will all unfold.
With the regular season just a little more than a week away, the Nets are certainly a team that all eyes have to be on.