Shams: Nets have renewed optimism that Kyrie will play

[sashaturiaf]

Color me skeptical on this one. It goes against everything sacred in team sports if you allow a guy to come in and play and miss games as he chooses.

its not his choosing. its mandated by the state. its not like Kyrie came out and was like, "yo i dont feel playing in barclays anymore"

the team would be allowing him to play in eligible games. this is also a pandemic "everything that is sacred in sports" doesnt really apply

4 nets are in covid protocol and cant play tonight. should we ban them from all future games too?

If the team don't mind him playing away games only, I'd play him as a microwave scorer off the bench. It'd a slap in the face to the team and it's morale to treat him as anything more than that.

how so? Shams said the team and coaches want him back. its a slap in the face to teammates to let him play when they want him back? the team wants to win. they know kyrie is a top player. they also love him cause he is an elite teammate. i cant imagine any animosity because of his role

Elite teammate.....

No he really isn't.

[Prokorov]

Color me skeptical on this one. It goes against everything sacred in team sports if you allow a guy to come in and play and miss games as he chooses.

its not his choosing. its mandated by the state. its not like Kyrie came out and was like, "yo i dont feel playing in barclays anymore"

the team would be allowing him to play in eligible games. this is also a pandemic "everything that is sacred in sports" doesnt really apply

4 nets are in covid protocol and cant play tonight. should we ban them from all future games too?

If the team don't mind him playing away games only, I'd play him as a microwave scorer off the bench. It'd a slap in the face to the team and it's morale to treat him as anything more than that.

how so? Shams said the team and coaches want him back. its a slap in the face to teammates to let him play when they want him back? the team wants to win. they know kyrie is a top player. they also love him cause he is an elite teammate. i cant imagine any animosity because of his role

Elite teammate.....

No he really isn't.

He is... according to... you know, past and present teammates. which is really what matters.

[sashaturiaf]

its not his choosing. its mandated by the state. its not like Kyrie came out and was like, "yo i dont feel playing in barclays anymore"

the team would be allowing him to play in eligible games. this is also a pandemic "everything that is sacred in sports" doesnt really apply

4 nets are in covid protocol and cant play tonight. should we ban them from all future games too?



how so? Shams said the team and coaches want him back. its a slap in the face to teammates to let him play when they want him back? the team wants to win. they know kyrie is a top player. they also love him cause he is an elite teammate. i cant imagine any animosity because of his role

Elite teammate.....

No he really isn't.

He is... according to... you know, past and present teammates. which is really what matters.

He is a good guy, the type of guy at work who would always speak up to you about the bull of the politics of the workplace and how much he hated it , the guy who kept it real and you wanted to have a drink with.

But then he will always put his emotional needs ahead of everything else. At the end of the day, this Nets experiment was meant to result in multiple titles. KD as one of the top 5 most talented players of all time devoted the latter half of his career to play with you, James Harden a MVP risked his own physical future in that bucks series to cover for you, the organisation gave out countless picks and Jarrett Allen for these titles on this timeline.. then you just throw all that out the window, because of you? Kyrie is selfish as hell if you think from the perspective of everybody on this roster except himself. It only makes sense to himself, I'm not discounting the fact this stand could potentially help the unvaccinated and a greater cause but if you're talking Nets, our roster, he let us down.


He is likeable on a personal level, but not a good teammate. That's my take.

[sashaturiaf]

And really I would have zero issues with Kyries stance if he was playing an individual sport like tennis. But he isn't, basketball is a team sport and what he is doing has massive collateral damage.

Yes at the end of the day basketball titles are trivial in the overall scheme of things, but that is a separate discussion. In the world where we are devoting a good amount of time in our llives to discussing the NBA, kyries move was not cool.

[Prokorov]

Elite teammate.....

No he really isn't.

He is... according to... you know, past and present teammates. which is really what matters.

He is a good guy, the type of guy at work who would always speak up to you about the bull of the politics of the workplace and how much he hated it , the guy who kept it real and you wanted to have a drink with.

But then he will always put his emotional needs ahead of everything else. At the end of the day, this Nets experiment was meant to result in multiple titles. KD as one of the top 5 most talented players of all time devoted the latter half of his career to play with you, James Harden a MVP risked his own physical future in that bucks series to cover for you, the organisation gave out countless picks and Jarrett Allen for these titles on this timeline.. then you just throw all that out the window, because of you? Kyrie is selfish as hell if you think from the perspective of everybody on this roster except himself. It only makes sense to himself, I'm not discounting the fact this stand could potentially help the unvaccinated and a greater cause but if you're talking Nets, our roster, he let us down.


He is likeable on a personal level, but not a good teammate. That's my take.

exactly, thats YOUR take. that isnt how the players see it. they all put themselves first. their personal lives. "being selfish" in a teammate sense is not exceptiong your role, pouting about playing time, and jacking up shots instead of passing. its not putting your health/family/friends/self-interests ahead of basketball. these guys are people, not robots.

99% of kyries teammates past and present love him and have defended him. including his current ones.

They wouldnt all "Want him back ASAP" if that wasnt the case. KD wouldnt be talking to him to come back, he'd talk to marks to get rid of him

[Prokorov]

And really I would have zero issues with Kyries stance if he was playing an individual sport like tennis. But he isn't, basketball is a team sport and what he is doing has massive collateral damage.
.

it does have collateral damage. but thats not kyries fault. he didnt make the mandate or the virus

[Prokorov]

Read on Twitter

I think those are the Kyrie 8's, if so him and nike did rework them. They arent quite the Kyrie 3's or 5's but another fire shoe. My favorite signature line since the penny hardaways.

I grabbed the Kyrie 7 brooklyn beats on sale last month:

[sashaturiaf]

And really I would have zero issues with Kyries stance if he was playing an individual sport like tennis. But he isn't, basketball is a team sport and what he is doing has massive collateral damage.
.

it does have collateral damage. but thats not kyries fault. he didnt make the mandate or the virus

This I agree with.

Sick of this drama. Play some basketball and win

[NyCeEvO]

Not gonna lie, the Kyrie COVID drama has killed my mood for this season.

IMO, we’d only win a title if all 3 stars are available and healthy for the postseason. This is supposed to be a championship or bust team.

And with the way our team doesn’t really care/focus on the regular season, but isn’t a favorite to win without Kyrie, this fiasco along with Harden’s sub-superstar performances zapped so much of my pre- and early season excitement.

I hope this all gets resolved somehow. I don’t want to get false hope.

[TheNetsFan]

Given the outbreak, this would have been the ideal time to cave and tell Kyrie to suit up get on the plane. We need every available healthy body Of course we have a 5 game home stand.

[Prokorov]

Given the outbreak, this would have been the ideal time to cave and tell Kyrie to suit up get on the plane. We need every available healthy body Of course we have a 5 game home stand.

5 game home stand followed by 2 road games in LA

they need to fast track that plant based vaccine

[LOUiS-D]

Given the outbreak, this would have been the ideal time to cave and tell Kyrie to suit up get on the plane. We need every available healthy body Of course we have a 5 game home stand.

5 game home stand followed by 2 road games in LA

they need to fast track that plant based vaccine

HURRY!! GET THIS UNTESTED, UNPROVEN VACCINE INTO KAI'S ARM!!

He needs a safe alternative to something billions of us have had without issue.

I'm with you all the way. If he's the first guy to get it, cool. It is pretty funny though. Funny in that depressing af way.

[MrDollarBills]

Given the outbreak, this would have been the ideal time to cave and tell Kyrie to suit up get on the plane. We need every available healthy body Of course we have a 5 game home stand.

5 game home stand followed by 2 road games in LA

they need to fast track that plant based vaccine

HURRY!! GET THIS UNTESTED, UNPROVEN VACCINE INTO KAI'S ARM!!

He needs a safe alternative to something billions of us have had without issue.

I'm with you all the way. If he's the first guy to get it, cool. It is pretty funny though. Funny in that depressing af way.

kyrie is an idiot bro. I can't even mince words here. Just dumb af

[Educator]

If you thought this 'report' was anything more than Kyrie using Shams as his mouthpiece to try and put pressure on the Nets to let him return as a road warrior, you are a dope.

Kyrie is certainly not an 'elite' teammate. He is an objectively terrible teammate. This is a fact. What players have said about him in the past is irrelevant.

Is Kyrie injured? No (mental injuries notwithstanding). Is he voluntarily sitting out? Yes. Can Kyrie play? Yes. Is Kyrie there for his team? No. Does a good, let alone 'elite', teammate abandon his team? No. Hence, Kyrie Irving is an objectively terrible teammate.

[HardenGoat]

Purely fear based at an irrational level. I liken it to a group on a river that gets to a point they have to jump from a waterfall. Durant leads the way jumping first and the others follow. You can see they are fine and implore you to join them but the fear is still overpowering. Worse there are “supporters” in your ear claiming you will suffer grave consequences if you jump. At some point you have to overcome the irrational fear and just jump.

[Prokorov]

If you thought this 'report' was anything more than Kyrie using Shams as his mouthpiece to try and put pressure on the Nets to let him return as a road warrior, you are a dope.

Shams source was KD. not Kyrie.

Kyrie is certainly not an 'elite' teammate. He is an objectively terrible teammate. This is a fact. What players have said about him in the past is irrelevant.

So what his TEAMMATES say is irrelevant. what you think matters? That is laughably absurd.

Kyrie is an elite teammate. Because players care alot less about things like missing games for personal reasons and alot more about things like helping them navigate the league, helping them navigate life, helping them to work and improve, trailblazing new outlets for them to grow financially off the court, and just in general being a good person. it isnt just kyries past and current teammates that love him, its guys on other teams too. Kyrie super generous. he helps alot of guys around the league

Is Kyrie injured? No (mental injuries notwithstanding). Is he voluntarily sitting out? Yes. Can Kyrie play? Yes. Is Kyrie there for his team? No. Does a good, let alone 'elite', teammate abandon his team? No. Hence, Kyrie Irving is an objectively terrible teammate.

He is not voluntarily sitting out. It is the Nets choice for him not to play road games and the states mandate that prohibits him from playing home games. He isn't eligible to play at home and the road and just deciding not to show up.

Kyrie did not abandon his team. he made a personal health decision during a once in a century pandemic.

Kyrie is objectively a great teammate. Which is why nets plays support him now. celtics players support him now despite the city and fans hating him and current and former players coming to his defense. its why he was voted a VP of the players union.

I'm sure Joe Harris isnt hating kyrie for not being able to play because of a personal decision after Kyrie was there with him during his mothers battle with cancer and made a huge donation in her name to cancer research. or when kyrie got nike to help Joe Harris start his basketball clinic in cleveland and has gone to that clinic every year even when they werent teammates when kyrie was in boston. Or Kyrie bringing Joe harris into a business venture with the homecourt app (great app by the way).

Same with Bembry. Kyrie has been helping and mentoring the dude and going back to help him since he was at St. Joe's Kyrie's old team. Bembry has waxed poetic about Kyrie's generosity. You see Kyrie at girls high school games and seton hall games... thats not because he was betting the games or something. he reaches out to the young kids on those team and works with them. That is how relationships are built. It is why Kyrie's teammates and dudes around the league have kyries back and are supporting him now... cause he is always there for them.

The Book on the nets 2019 season shines a ton of light on how winning and basketball is a huge part of these guys lives, but still not the majority of their lives and they care about a ton beyond it. ESPECIALLY Kyrie and KD. which is why they are so tight

Like those are the things that bond players and make good teammates. These guys spend 220+ days together. Kyrie is at worst letting fans down for not seeing him. Bad team mate? no chance

[Prokorov]

Purely fear based at an irrational level. I liken it to a group on a river that gets to a point they have to jump from a waterfall. Durant leads the way jumping first and the others follow. You can see they are fine and implore you to join them but the fear is still overpowering. Worse there are “supporters” in your ear claiming you will suffer grave consequences if you jump. At some point you have to overcome the irrational fear and just jump.

It is a bad analogy for a few reasons.

1) It assume that because one or many made it safe, each sequential person jumping will also be safe. if there is a 10% risk and the first 9 made it safe and you go next....

2) It assumes that something because clearly safe the instant the act is complete. jumping off a cliff, that is true. you land safely or you dont. Taking a vaccine, not so clear. Maybe their are long term effects. maybe the risk of those effects is small. maybe its negligible. maybe it applies to one gender/race or age demo then another. but its not clear right away.

The data isn't there with vaccines to speak on the long term effects. The data isn;'t even there to speak on the long term effects of COVID. you can say the risk of potentially being infected with COVID is higher then the potential long term risks of the vaccination. You would in general probably be right, but again, we are dealing with alot of unknowns (unlike jumping off the cliff).

Kyrie as a realtively health 30 year old male in good physical condition stands a low chance of complications. Even with his increased risk of hospitalizaiton (Vaccinated have lower hospital rates) The chance of him having complications if he gets Covid are around 1% The chances he gets COVID are not 100% either. so its fractions of 1% once you come to the probability on that.

The risk for Kyrie getting Covid and having long term effects are somewhere between .001% and 1% depending on what data you go off of for calculating risk of infection and risk in his age/health demographic. For comparison, that same risk for the flu is between .0001% and .33% (back of napkin math, Flu numbers are less readily available, COVID is nicely organized on CDC website).

So its for sure riskier then the flu, but for him, its still really low risk... unless you factor in unknown data on long term effects, but in that case, its true on both sides of the coin... we dont have data on long term effects of the vaccine.

I think it is reasonable, (but likely still more risky) for a vegan native american who has been very concerned where his food and drugs come from long before COVID happeneds to:

-accept short term risks of getting covid and having covid complications
-wait for emergency approval of plant based vaccine you either have less concerns about or have more trust that it contains things you are willing to put in your body.

If Kyrie was one of these MAGA dolts injection their kids with Horse medication id be with you. I dont think his approach is really all that unreasonable... especially since he has for a long time been concerned about organic and plant based food and therapies

[sashaturiaf]

Kyrie is an elite teammate.... That just likes to walk out on his team when he feels like it and nobody even knows where he is, yet you can't even question it so his sensitive soul won't get hurt. It's one of the most whacked out scenarios I've ever seen, Kyries gone missing from the court over the course of 2 seasons for extended periods of time and a roster full of hall of famers are terrified to say a word publicly about it. I question Kyries desire to win, and a more ruthless front office / star player than KD would have shipped his ass out long ago.

If Kyrie is an elite teammate What does that make Patty Mills then?

[Keith Van Horn]

Not gonna lie, the Kyrie COVID drama has killed my mood for this season.

IMO, we’d only win a title if all 3 stars are available and healthy for the postseason. This is supposed to be a championship or bust team.

And with the way our team doesn’t really care/focus on the regular season, but isn’t a favorite to win without Kyrie, this fiasco along with Harden’s sub-superstar performances zapped so much of my pre- and early season excitement.

I hope this all gets resolved somehow. I don’t want to get false hope.

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way. It's been such a rainy cloud over this season. And that's really ridiculous considering how well the team is playing and the record.

[NetsWorld]

A lot of speculation out here but my theory to this is that Kyrie wanted to take time off and use the vaxx as a cover. How do you guys know Kyrie didn't plot this as a way to get back at the league after they allowed Giannis to get away with injuring him last year?! Giannis deliberately undercut him and he could potentially be waiting for the right time to come and play so the Nets can just overpower and scare teams again. KD was super happy after Tuesday's win, do you really think it was just about being happy with the rookies that night?! No! KD knows his boy will be back and he is just happy and expressing it without disclosing much and he's NOT supposed to leak anything about their private matters.