The Brooklyn Nets made a monumental decision to sit Kyrie Irving until he's eligible to play in home games. This means he must either get the COVID-19 vaccine or New York City would have to lift the local vaccine mandate in order for him to play. Nets general manager Sean Marks said Tuesday that while a number of people were consulted on the decision, it was ultimately up to him and owner Joe Tsai.
Marks also revealed that Irving will only lose out on pay for home games. The NBA had previously stated that players wouldn't be paid for home games they missed if they didn't comply with local vaccine mandates.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski had reported Monday night that superstars Kevin Durant and James Harden were going to meet with Nets brass about the situation. Head coach Steve Nash surely gave his input as well. It's unclear just what those guys said in these meetings, but Marks and Tsai had the final word on the matter and decided to go this route.
Brooklyn will now forge on ahead without Kyrie Irving for the time being. It's unknown if he'll give in and get the shot, so the Nets are operating under the assumption that they'll be without him for the foreseeable future. They didn't want to have a part-time player for this season, so they made this call.
The decision was probably made a little easier by the fact that Brooklyn still has a loaded roster without Irving. Durant and Harden are two of the top-10 players in the NBA, and the Nets have a number of other big names in the rotation as role players. Patty Mills will surely see a larger role if Irving is indeed out.
Stay tuned for the next twist of this saga, because there will surely be another.