Kyrie Irving believes his decision not to get vaccinated cost him a four-year, $187 million contract extension offer by the Brooklyn Nets prior to the 21-22 season.
Irving and the Nets were unable to agree to terms on a new contract this offseason, leading him to exercise his $36.5 million player option for 22-23.
"I gave up four years, 100-and-something million deciding to be unvaccinated and that was the decision," Irving said during Nets media day on Monday. "[Get this] contract, get vaccinated or be unvaccinated and there's a level of uncertainty of your future, whether you're going to be in this league, whether you're going to be on this team, so I had to deal with that real-life circumstance of losing my job for this decision."
Irving said he felt the decision whether to get vaccinated was like "an ultimatum" from the organization, in regard to his contract.
Marks acknowledged that it was ultimately New York City's vaccination mandate, coupled with Irving's anti-vaccination decision, that stalled conversations about the future.
"So two summers ago, that was pre-citywide, statewide mandates that went in," Marks said. "So once the vaccine mandates came in, and we knew how that would affect [Irving] playing home games and so forth, that's when contract talks stalled. So it didn't get to [a point], 'Here's the deal, now take it back.' That never happened."
Marks talked optimistically about Irving's future with the Nets.
"At the end of the day, we're happy that Kyrie is back here," Marks said. "I'm listening to the press conference he had this morning and my takeaway from that is that he's committed. He understands that in order for him to be a free agent and get what he rightfully wants, he's going to have to show commitment out there. We're happy to support him in any possible way throughout the season to make sure that he's healthy and ready to go."