Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash acknowledged for the first time that the team will be without Kyrie Irving for parts of this season. Nash said, "I think we recognize he’s not playing home games. We’re going to have to for sure play without him this year. So it just depends on when, where and how much."
Irving has maintained that his vaccination status is a private, personal matter. He recently missed the Nets first home game, with his status listed as "ineligible". That all but confirmed that Irving is not vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Nets practice facility was recently deemed a private office. That frees up Irving to practice with the team in Brooklyn.
New York City has a mandate that in order to take part in games, the Nets and New York Knicks players must be vaccinated. This means Irving is set up to miss as many as 41 regular season games. That would cause Irving to forfeit tens of millions of dollars in salary. Brooklyn will not receive any tax relief for any salary Irving forfeits.
