What on this round Earth will the Nets do with Kyrie Irving?
We’re beyond the “more distraction, more hoopla, more drama” stage that Brooklyn’s All-Star guard said on Media Day last week he had hoped to avoid.
By refusing to be injected with the COVID-19 vaccine, Irving has been banned from all Nets activities in New York City due to Emergency Executive Order 225 signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in August. Irving, who practiced with the team at their training camp in California last week, will be effectively sidelined indefinitely. With the Nets practicing all this week at their facility in Industry City and hosting the Bucks in an exhibition on Friday, there’s virtually no chance that the organization will allow him to suit up for Monday’s tilt in Philadelphia without a proper ramp-up, especially with Irving coming off a severe ankle sprain that knocked him out of the Nets seven-game loss to the Bucks in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Nets practice/game schedule going forward is also heavily-weighted toward Brooklyn-based events, which is why the Nets could conceivably move to shut down Irving completely if his obstinance to the vaccine isn’t broken, according to Tuesday’s report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst. It would be negligent for the Nets to allow Irving to be away from the team for significant periods and then have him jump onto the court for an NBA road game.
The report also mentioned that the organization believes that they have what it takes to contend for an NBA Championship without Irving, so if you’re trying to figure out where the Nets go from here, you first have to find out where Kevin Durant stands on all this. Not that this is a shock to anyone, but KD has the outsized influence on the team you’d expect from the best player on the planet, with a direct line to owner Joseph Tsai. The Nets are not trading Irving without Durant’s blessing.
Not that we’ll ever know KD’s true thoughts on the matter, but if, for speculation’s sake, he does lose his patience with Irving at any point this season, the Nets would still be hard-pressed to return more than a quarter on the dollar in any such trade. Irving has an opt-out of his contract after the season, so who’s going to want to pay fair value for a pending free agent who has a recent history of making excuses not to play? Irving also skipped seven games last season for “personal reasons” believed by some to be related to the country’s political turmoil. Not that I took his tweet seriously, but a FOX Sports talking head reported that Irving’s agents have made it known that Irving would retire if traded.
Ergo, trading Irving might alleviate the headache, but it won’t help the Nets get back to their current tip-top shape.
The easiest cure would obviously be for Irving to get vaccinated. As I’ve outlined in prior posts, anti-vaxxers have no valid leg to stand on. To repeat: It’s safe, effective, and--something that should be incessantly drummed into Irving’s ear--IT’S GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY!
Barring a trade or a change in Irving’s mindset, what else can be done? Well, I’m a little surprised that the Nets haven’t done more to go through legal channels to mitigate the effect of the Order. Maybe they have and we haven’t gotten wind of it or maybe, as a very high-profile business, they don’t want to be seen as an organization fighting public health measures.
Remember, though, it's not the NBA who is keeping Irving away, as the agreement with the NBA Player’s Association only lays out the safety protocols and financial consequences for missing games—though the latest estimate has about 95% of all players vaccinated, a mandate was never implemented.
The NBA fine, which in Irving’s case amounts to about $380,000 per game, happens to be significantly higher than those for failing to comply with the Order. First-time violators are to be charged $1,000, with increased penalties for subsequent infractions going up to “not less than $5,000” for every violation. It seems to me that it would be way more convenient for the Nets to simply cut the City a check, which could then be reimbursed out of Irving’s salary.
If only it weren’t for that pesky public relations hubbub it would create. I’m guessing the Nets organization is thinking that this isn’t the right time to instigate a “different set of rules for the rich” blowback.
Still, there could be an opening for the Nets to litigate the Order based on the exemption for visiting performers, as if the presence of unvaccinated NBA players from other parts of the country brings zero risk to Barclays Center stakeholders anywhere near the court. You could argue that the risk to public health is greater from visitors since it is more likely they could introduce new variants to the area. It is believed that many of the Nets who were infected with the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 caught it when they were in Los Angeles and then brought it home. What if that happened to a team coming to New York to play the Nets and the Knicks on an extended stay? There have been judges in New York and other jurisdictions who did not rule favorably on inconsistent regulations.
It's a long shot, but Irving and the Nets appear to be at a stalemate, with no other discernible way out of the mess. If Kyrie won’t get vaccinated, the Nets just might have to bite the bullet and gamble that they can successfully proceed through the season without him.
Steve, I wrote this in a previous column with no usual response from you. Figured I'd try again.
The spotlight needs to start going on Nash, Marks and Tsai.
Marks and Nash have a history of being noncontroversial and protecting Nets players. Even when Irving disappeared last season Marks stayed safe and said nothing bad of it.
However, Marks needs takes a stand (along with Nash and Tsai) and be clear that Irving is in the wrong. I know Marks doesn't want to rock the boat, but saying nothing and protecting Irving only amplifies the message that not getting vaccinated is an appropriate choice - and it is not.
People are dying - and the population that is not getting vaccinated is a major part of the reason why. If Marks, Nash and Tsai do not stand up for vaccinations it would be a stain on the organization forever.
Kareem had a great analogy "You either join the line to save your neighbor's home, or you stand by and let it burn because you don't owe them anything," If Irving is 'standing by and letting it burn' that's his choice. But to add to that analogy Marks, Nash and Tsai need to speak up NOW. Saying nothing condones this behavior.