Nets SHUT DOWN Kyrie Irving: Unvaccinated All-Star will now miss road games and practices after being banned from playing in Brooklyn because of New York’s mandate
Faced with the prospect of playing home games without unvaccinated guard Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets have decided to completely sideline the NBA All-Star until a permanent solution can be reached.
Irving, who is unvaccinated, was expected to miss home games this season due to New York’s vaccine mandate. He would have been able to practice in Brooklyn because the team’s training center is considered a private workplace and not a public arena.
However, the Nets are now saying that Irving will not be playing or practicing with the Nets whatsoever.
‘Given the evolving nature of the situation and after thorough deliberation, we have decided Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant,’ read the statement. ‘Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose. Currently the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability.’
It’s unclear if Irving will be paid at all for the games he missed. He already stood to lose $381,000 for every home game he missed this season.
The NBA and the players’ union have agreed that players will lose 1/91.6th of their salary for every game missed without proper cause this season. If that formula is applied to his entire season, he would stand to lose more than $31 million of his $34.9 million salary.
Currently Irving stands to lose $15.5 million if he’s held out of all home games this year.
Faced with the prospect of playing home games without unvaccinated guard Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets have decided to completely sideline the NBA All-Star until a permanent solution can be reached
The statement stressed the team’s efforts to build chemistry among Nets players.
‘It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established values of togetherness and sacrifice. Our championship goals for the season have not changed, and to achieve these goals each member of our organization must pull in the same direction.
‘We are excited for the start of the season and look forward to a successful campaign that will make the borough of Brooklyn proud.’
Irving had been mysteriously absent from some ticket sales promotions and team advertisements in recent weeks.
He, James Harden and Kevin Durant were expected to form the core of an NBA-title contender this season.
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