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After a long hiatus of Kyrie Irving’s regular spot in the headlines, his name rose to prominence once more after he joined the Brooklyn Nets for practice and addressed the media for the first time this season.
Irving, who missed the entirety of the season thus far, was away from the team as the Brooklyn Nets made the decision to not have the all star guard participate in any basketball activities due to New York City’s vaccine mandate. Irving gained notoriety after announcing he would not get vaccinated, but rather seek other remedies to deal with COVID-19.
The Nets brought in Irving to make his first public comments since October 13th to announce he will be returning to the team part-time, and expected to begin playing in away games in the coming weeks.
“I understood their decision, and I respected it,” said Irving. “I really had to sit back and think, and try not to become too emotionally attached to what they were deciding to do. I had to sit down and really evaluate things and see it from their perspective.”
Expectations were set high for the Brooklyn Nets coming into the season, with most sportsbooks opening the season with them being title favorites. Due to multiple injuries between their stars in last year’s playoffs, the team was never seen at full strength, giving the Nets, remainder of the league, and majority of fans every reason to believe they would get to witness it this season before this controversy arose. Last year with the Nets, Irving got a nod for the All NBA Third Team, and helped lead the roster to the second best regular season record in the Eastern Conference.
Never shying away from letting his beliefs put him in a pool of controversy, this was the first time in his career Kyrie Irving let it prevent him from seeing the hardwood. On Thursday, Irving admitted he knew what he was doing would put him in hot water with the team.
“I knew the consequences, but I wasn’t prepared for them for no stretch of the imagination,” said Irving. “Coming into the season, I had my thought process on being able to be a full [time] teammate, but unfortunately it didn’t happen like that.”
Brooklyn Nets’ head coach Steve Nash said he plans to get Irving in game shape for up to one to two weeks before he sees the court on an away game. He also stated him and Irving had not talked about vaccines since the preseason.
Due to mandates, Irving wouldn’t be able to play in any home games at the Barclays Center, along with the neighboring New York Knicks and division rival Toronto Raptors. There is a total of 22 remaining away games Irving would be eligible to play in.
Kyrie Irving has yet to show any willingness to get vaccinated.
Editorial credit: Adam Hunger/Associated Press
