Kyrie Irving has returned. After missing the first 35 games of the season, the player who signed with the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019 along with Kevin Durant, is back in action. By now you know why he was out. The Duke product is not vaccinated for COVID-19, and in New York City that precludes him from appearing in Nets home games. He is eligible to play on the road but originally the team did not want any part-time players so he wasn't active at all. Team GM Sean Marks and the team brass felt him coming and going would present continuity issues.

So Durant and James Harden basically carried the team through the early portion of the year.

But once their otherwise fully vaccinated team started shuffling in and out of health and safety protocols, they reasoned continuity wasn't something they were getting anyway. That's when the Nets made the controversial decision to bring Irving back. Reportedly, all of the Nets were on board with that choice. But after Kyrie tested positive upon returning he went through his own stint in isolation.

Finally, after all that, he made his season debut in a 129-121 win over the Indiana Pacers. Irving helped Durant and Harden snap a three-game losing streak by dropping 22 points to go with four assists and three steals.

“I've had a lot of debuts,” admitted Irving after the 129-121 win, “but nothing comes close to this one. It just meant a little bit more. Just because at this stage, you know taking off eight months…. so I went in just an open mindset just to ground myself, be present, and do whatever it takes to win.”

So now the next biggest question is whether or not Irving has changed his stance on being vaccinated or not.

If he does not get vaccinated, he's only eligible to appear in 22 games for the team as of now before the playoffs begin. So if the city of New York doesn't make any changes, presumably Irving would have to be the one to make the big change.

It's possible the team simply wouldn't have the fire power to beat the best of the NBA with their big three only available half the time. And with a monumental free agency period coming next summer, it makes this next question all the more important.

Would Joe and Clara Wu Tsai want to offer a full five-year max offer for a player who was only eligible to play on the road? 

That's putting the cart before the horse perhaps, as Kevin Durant and James Harden are probably just happy to have their teammate back where he is eligible. But these questions are not going away.

Following the win at Indiana, Irving addressed the question from reporters.

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“I'm just taking it one day at a time,” said Irving. “Like I said earlier in the season, it's not an ideal situation, and I'm always praying that things get figured out. And we're able to come to some collective agreement. Whether it be with the league or just things that's going on, that can help kind of ease what we're all dealing with COVID and the vaccine. I think everybody's feeling it so I don't want to make it simply about me and simply about someone lessening the rules for me. I know what the consequences were, I still know what they are. But right now I'm just gonna take it one day at a time, like I said, and just enjoy this time that I get to play with my guys. And however it looks later in the season, then we'll address it then.”

One reporter pushed the envelop and followed up. There's still a possibility?

“Aww c'mon man, don't hang on to me,” joked Irving, hinting he had to run. That one got the room full of reporters and those on Zoom to laugh.

It's not a resounding “yes I'm going to take the jab next Wednesday.” It's not a “no way dude” either. It does sound like he's hinting at some things besides himself possibly changing. The phrasing of “things get figured out” makes it sound like he's referring to things out of his hands, like a city ordinance. There has been no indication Mayor Eric Adams will make an accommodation for him. Contrarily, with the Omicron variant surging, it doesn't seem like Brooklyn will be taking its foot off the gas in terms of pandemic protocol. By bringing up the idea of someone “lessening the rules for me” it begs the question of if Irving thinks there is a possibility of that happening. But who would do so?

So for now, like Irving says, we'll take it a day at a time and see how it looks later in the season.