The 2021-22 season has started and Kyrie Irving's absence looms over the entire Brooklyn Nets organization. There does not appear to be any resolution in sight, other than the current one, where Irving is essentially forbidden from joining his teammates. The team's position is clear and could basically be summarized as such: you are free to choose not to get vaccinated, and we are free to then decide you cannot play this season until that changes. We learned in the season opener on Tuesday that the team is not better off without him, far from it.
It appears that the Nets — from the top of the org chart on down — have begun to distance themselves from Irving and this story. Nets owner Joe Tsai had a crystal clear message for anyone interested at the Milken Institute's talk on the “Digital Transformation of Sports.”
“We feel like we have a collective goal to go for a championship this season. I respect individual choice. But when individual action is not consistent with the collective goal, the team has to move on. And that’s what we’ve done. It’s really for me, as the Owner, it’s the only fair thing to do for our fans, our players, our coaching staff, everyone involved in our organization. It’s the only fair thing to do.”
The part about the team moving on sounds especially final, doesn't it? It makes clear the ball is in Irving's court now to either get vaccinated or not. If he chooses not to, perhaps the team would explore a trade if they have not done so already.
These comments from Tsai come just a few days after head coach Steve Nash had this to say, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post:
“…. I think I’ve pretty much said everything I have to say about it. If something changes, we can talk about it; but I really want to focus on moving forward and our group and solutions to the challenge ahead of us.”
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Kevin Durant (reportedly consulted ahead of the team decision to disallow Irving from taking part in road games despite being eligible) has also been singing a similar tune, per NetsDaily at SB Nation:
“Just focus on what we got in this locker room and when Kai is ready, I’m sure he’ll talk with Joe and Sean and they’ll figure it out and tell us. Until then, we’ll keep grinding.”
Nash and Durant's comments are predictable and reasonable. Of course the coach and star player are going to say they're focused on the task in front of them and the players around them. Tsai's recent comments add a little gravity to the situation; his “the team has to move on” phrasing feels almost ominous.
The Nets appear to be placing organizational culture and principles over people, and doing so without wiggle room. (I'm curious what their position would be if Durant and not Irving were the one unvaccinated.)
But it gets even more intriguing when you see a team promo on Twitter honoring Brooklyn (which Irving has referred to as home many times) that does not include Irving at all:
Pretty telling that Kyrie isn’t in this https://t.co/gIbmeQbbg4
— Brick Ross (@OriginalOLAJ) October 18, 2021
For now it appears pretty clear: the Nets are (socially) distancing themselves from Irving. We can venture a guess that they believe this hardball approach might ultimately persuade Irving to get his vaccine and play; or maybe they think it might well backfire yet is the principled stance to take anyway.
Clearly, based on Tuesday's defeat at the hands of the defending champs, winning the title will be much much more difficult without Irving in the fray. For now, the team is going to try to do just that without any signs of this stalemate disappearing any time soon.
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