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Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant, the team announced Tuesday morning.
The announcement means Irving will not be on the court with the Nets until he gets vaccinated against Covid-19, or New York City grants him an exemption.
While more than 95 percent of NBA players are vaccinated, Irving remains one of the few holdouts who are refusing the jab. The league has not mandated the jab for its players, but that doesn’t excuse them from local vaccination requirements.
“Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Currently the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability. It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established values of togetherness and sacrifice.”
Currently, Irving is reportedly
The announcement from the Nets comes after it was reported Kevin Durant and James Harden would meet with team executives to discuss how to handle Irving’s status for the season. Hours later, the decision to exclude him from all games and practices was announced.
It was previously reported that players who are ineligible to play because of vaccine requirements would not be paid for missed games. Irving was set to earn more than $33 million this season, but vaccine protocols barring him from home games would eliminate about half of his salary. It’s not clear if the Nets will attempt to withhold Irving’s earnings from road games, considering he’s technically eligible to play despite the team’s decision.