Brooklyn has told Kyrie Irving he can’t be a part-time Net.
With Irving refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, he left the Nets no choice Tuesday but to tell him he can’t rejoin the team — either for games or practices, home or road — until he does. In essence, get vaxxed or get gone.
“Ultimately, yes. He has a choice to make, and he made his choice,” said Nets general manager Sean Marks, who made the decision with team owner Joe Tsai. “My job here is to make what we deem as the best choices for the organization moving ahead as a whole. They’re not always ones that are going to be met with open arms and thumbs up. These are hard decisions.”
With Marks confirming the obvious, that Irving has dug in and refused to get vaccinated — “if he was vaccinated, we wouldn’t be having this discussion,” the GM said — he made it clear that the team wants him back but exhausted every possible option.
Irving, whose publicist did not return emails or phone calls, has proved intractable in this standoff. The Nets acknowledged Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated is his call, now they’ve made theirs.
“Kyrie has made it clear he has a choice in this matter and it’s ultimately going to be up to him what he decides. We respect the fact that he has a choice and he can make his own right to choose,” Marks said. “Right now, what’s best for the organization is the path we are taking.”
New York City vaccine mandates make Irving unable to play at home games at Barclays Center — or at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. A recent ruling allowed him to at least practice at HSS Training Center, but simply playing road games wasn’t enough.
In a story published Tuesday evening by The Athletic, a source close to Irving said the player explained to his teammates he was “upset that people are losing their jobs due to vaccine mandates.” With his “current life” dynamics — how much money he’s made and the status he’s gained — Irving was described as wanting to be “a voice for the voiceless.”
“We want him here for the whole thing,” Kevin Durant said recently. “We want him here for games, home games, practices, away games, shootarounds, all of that. Hopefully, we figure this thing out.”
While Nets players were off from practice Tuesday, Marks underscored that point as well, saying the organization wants Irving, but as a full participant.
“Kyrie talks about it as a sort of personal choice issue, which I respect. But we all need to not forget our goal,” Tsai told The Post last month in San Diego. “The championship team needs to have everybody pulling the same direction.”
After opening the season next Tuesday in Milwaukee and playing at Philadelphia, the Nets begin a six-game homestand for which Irving would have been ineligible. Durant himself recently admitted he feels out of shape if he doesn’t get on the court for three or four days. These starts and stops for Irving would have been untenable.
“We’re looking at putting a group of people that are going to be able to participate fully. That’s what this comes down to, and we’re not looking for partners that are going to be half-time,” Marks said. “I don’t think that’d be fair to not only the team and staff and ownership and fans, but to be quite frank not fair on Kyrie either.”
On Saturday, Irving tweeted that he was “protected by God.” The next day, coach Steve Nash admitted the guard was standing fast and expected to miss home games, and also wouldn’t travel to Monday’s preseason tilt in Philadelphia.
Tuesday morning, the Nets announced their decision.
Durant and James Harden — as well as other players — were kept in the loop, but Marks said, “Ultimately, this decision was Joe Tsai and myself.”
While Irving stands to lose over $17 million from sitting out games in New York, the Nets will still pay him for the road games — wisely so, since paying him could undercut his option of filing a grievance or involving the NBPA. The union said it had no comment when reached.
“Will there be pushback from Kyrie and his camp? I’m sure this is not a decision that they like,” Marks said. “Kyrie loves basketball, wants to be out there, wants to be participating with his teammates.
“But this is a choice that Kyrie had and he was well aware of that. We’ve had multiple conversations about this. The conversations were good, they were very clear and clearly outlined, and this is the … this is where we stand right now today.”
