Kyrie irving He did not practice with the Brooklyn Nets in Brooklyn on Tuesday because the point guard cannot practice or play in New York under the city’s COVID vaccination protocols.
After practicing with the team last week at training camp in San Diego, Irving missed the team’s first practice in Brooklyn. Local players playing in the New York market must have at least one shot to practice or play in New York.
“There are no more updates,” Nash told reporters after the Nets’ practice about Irving’s status for home games and practices. “We support him. We are here for him. Things change. When there is a resolution, we are here for him.”
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have agreed to a salary reduction of 1 / 91.6 from a player’s salary for each game an unvaccinated player misses due to local COVID-19 vaccination mandates, Tim Bontemps and Bobby reported. ESPN Marks. The Nets will play their next preseason game on Friday against Milwaukee in Brooklyn.
“I’m not really worried about anything,” Nash said when asked about not having his starting point guard for practice in Brooklyn. “We are just trying to work every day. We arrived today and had a great practice and we will do the same tomorrow.”
Nash was asked if there are any considerations about moving the team’s practices out of New York City so that Irving can participate.
“No, this is our house, this is where we go to practice and we have almost a full group,” Nash said. “So that’s positive and we are just working to improve every day and focus on the things that we can control.”
Irving, who would lose roughly $ 380,000 per game if unable to participate in home games, was unable to attend the team’s media day in Brooklyn on Sept. 27. But he did speak to reporters remotely and asked for privacy regarding his decision.
“I know that I will be there every day no matter what happens and that I will be there for my teammates as one of the team leaders and I will be there for my growing tribe off the court,” Irving said during that remote session of the day. of the media. “I know the focus has to be at its highest, with no distractions. This is the last thing I wanted to create, more distractions and more fuss and more drama around this. I’m doing my best to keep this with good intentions and good heart”.
.