The Nets were back in Brooklyn and back to playing without Kyrie Irving on Friday night, and fell to a fellow Eastern Conference contender in the Bucks in lopsided fashion.
The loss, the team's fourth in their last five games, was another reminder that the team needs to improve if it wants to take down the other hopeful contenders in the East, but without Irving on the floor, that task will be a lot more difficult.
Kevin Durant knows how important Irving is to the Nets' title hopes, but that won't lead him to urge his fellow superstar to receive a COVID-19 vaccine that would allow Irving to play in all games, rather than just on the road and outside of Toronto.
"I told him how important he is and how much I want him to play in every game, but like I said, I'm not about to force somebody to get a vaccine," Durant said after Friday's 121-109 loss. "That's not my thing. So he can play basketball? No, I'm not about to do that."
Brooklyn's only win in its last five games has come with Irving on the floor, but it looks like he will only be available in games outside of Brooklyn or Toronto. He didn't indicate that his stance on getting vaccinated has changed, even after the excitement of his season debut.
While that would leave Irving ineligible for at least half of a seven-game series, if the mandates in New York City are still in place by the playoffs, Durant still isn't pushing Irving to be vaccinated, nor has he ever asked for an explanation as to why Irving won't elect to get vaccinated.
"We had conversations about wanting him to be part of the team and conversations about being here full-time, but that's on his time," Durant said. "Whatever decision he wants to make, he's gonna make. Whenever he's ready, he'll be ready."
That readiness from Irving may never come, which could leave Irving out of a potential crucial home playoff game later in the season. Regardless, Durant says he will keep the focus on himself and the team that currently surrounds him.
"It's a weird situation," Durant said. "Who knows? I don't understand most of this s--t. COVID, all of this stuff has been crazy the last few years. I just try to stay centered and focus on me. When Kyrie is ready to make decisions for himself, he will, and I trust that."
Irving could have certainly made a difference in Friday's loss to the Bucks, the team that bounced Brooklyn from the playoffs last year after Irving was lost to injury. But Durant doesn't believe one game with Irving on the floor should lead the Nets to already show how much they miss his presence on the floor.
"I don't think so. We've been paying the majority of our games without him," Durant said. "We know how to go back. We're professionals. We're veterans. We're supposed to know how to adapt to some s--t. One game shouldn't throw us off like that."
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