The Brooklyn Nets have been fined $50,000 by the NBA for “violating local NYC law and league health and safety protocols” during Sunday’s game against the Knicks at Barclays Center – the maximum fine the league can issue.
The violation? The team allowed Kyrie Irving to enter the team’s locker room at halftime of their win over the Knicks, which is in violation of NYC’s mandate about unvaccinated employees at work.
Irving is able to attend home games now thanks to a change in NYC vaccine mandates, and did so with a fashionably late entrance during the first quarter of Sunday’s game, but is still not allowed to join the team during game activities.
Following the win, Kevin Durant – who was named NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week after dropping 53 on the Knicks – called out Mayor Eric Adams about vaccine mandates, and he also released a slightly more diplomatic statement after the fine was announced.
“The last two years have been a difficult and painful time for New Yorkers, as well as a very confusing time with the changing landscape of the rules and mandates,” Durant said in the statement released by Nets PR. “I do appreciate the task the Mayor has in front of him with all the city has been through. My frustration with the situation doesn’t change the fact that I will always be committed to helping the communities and cities I live in, and play in.”
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