The Brooklyn Nets were able to keep Kyrie Irving on the roster despite the plethora of trade rumors linked to his name. Additionally, Irving's potential opt-out led many to believe he would leave the Nets as well. Although Irving ultimately remained in Brooklyn, he recently hinted at how close he was to leaving the team, per Brian Lewis.

“Was Kyrie Irving ever close to leaving? Shakes his head and said ‘Yeah. There were options.' But adds ‘not many' because of the stigma of being unvaccinated,” Lewis shared via Twitter.

Almost every NBA team would love to have a player as talented as Kyrie Irving on their rosters. However, as Irving said, the vaccination dilemma led to concern.

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Irving was famously forced to miss the first portion of the 2021-2022 campaign due to Brooklyn's vaccination rules. The superstar point guard returned later in the year as a part-time player, as he was only eligible for road games. Brooklyn ended up repealing their mandate which made Kyrie Irving eligible for home games near the end of the season.

Nevertheless, there is still clearly concern over the matter around the league. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Kyrie Irving will play a full season in 2022-2023. And some people believe Irving is in line for a huge rebound performance. In fact, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith even proclaimed that Irving will be an MVP candidate.

Brooklyn features an uncertain but extremely talented team. The prospect of having Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, and Kyrie Irving all reach their full potential has all eyes on the Nets ahead of the 2022-2023 season.