Nets star Kevin Durant spoke out about the possibility of star teammate Kyrie Irving being absent from team activities, including games, due to his apparent status as unvaccinated.
Asked about the seemingly untenable situation at Friday practice, Durant seemed to implore Irving to join the team full-time.
“We want him here for the whole thing,” Durant told reporters. “We want him here for games, home games, practices, away games, shootarounds, all of it. Hopefully, we can figure this thing out.”
Irving -- who has not officially confirmed whether he is inoculated -- is trending toward missing games in cities with stricter vaccination protocols for large gatherings, including New York City. Others include Los Angeles and San Francisco.
On Friday, it was reported that the 11th-year veteran has been permitted to practice at the team's Brooklyn training center because it's privately owned.
For the Nets, the episode would seem to represent an early "distraction" in what is supposed to be a season with championship aspirations.
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With Durant and James Harden presumably healthy and holding down the fort early in the season, Irving's absence would likely be disruptive but not insurmountable. If it were to linger later into the season, though, it could be hugely problematic.
In apparently holding out on the vaccine, Irving is joined by at least one other star, in Bradley Beal of the Wizards.
However, Beal's home city of Washington, D.C., has not adopted a policy like New York City's, which calls for all performers (and players on local teams) to be vaccinated. New York City's policy does not apply to visiting players, yet, though legislation to that effect has been proposed.
Warriors star Andrew Wiggins was unvaccinated at the outset of camp, but eventually relented to pressure. He later said he felt like he had been "forced" to get the vaccine.
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