Much has been made of Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving not receiving the COVID-19 vaccination — preventing the NBA All-Star from playing for the team.
The decision was made by the Nets to keep Irving out from playing since he would be unable to play in home games after not complying with the New York City mandate for COVID-19 vaccination. He was eligible to play in road games but Brooklyn decided against having him participate as a ‘part-time player.’
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Brooklyn Nets are enabling Kyrie Irving to return to the team in order to participate as a ‘part-time player’ where he plays in road games.
“ESPN Sources: With the unfolding circumstances of Brooklyn’s season – including injuries, Covid losses and an inordinate minutes load on their superstar players – the Nets are bringing back All-Star guard Kyrie Irving as a part-time player for games outside of New York.”
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With how many players that are entering the NBA’s health and safety protocol for testing positive with COVID-19, the Brooklyn Nets seemingly have no choice but to bring Irving back into the fold.
It remains to be seen how long the restrictions will be in place keeping Irving limited to playing outside of New York City. With the rise of the Omicron variant, it seems unlikely for there to be a lifting of city mandates in places that never lifted them prior to the rise of new variants.
There has been greater conversation about the load Kevin Durant has been tasked with shouldering with key players being out of the lineup and with only James Harden as his co-star. Having Irving creates for more opportunity to potentially rest Durant or Harden on the road.
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Kyrie Irving had an impressive is coming off an impressive 2020-21 season — featuring 26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists on 50-40-90 shooting splits. Bringing a talent of that level would help regardless of whether he can play in just some of the games.
