Kyrie Irving will not travel with the Brooklyn Nets for their road preseason game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. Nets head coach Steve Nash also admitted Sunday that the team is prepared to play without Kyrie Irving for home games this season because of his unvaxxed status.

Via Brian Lewis of the New York Post:

“I think we recognize he’s not playing home games,” Nash said. “We’re going to have to for sure play without him this year. So it just depends on when, where and how much.”

Irving is now able to practice in Brooklyn, but local COVID-19 regulations say he can't play in home games unless he gets the COVID-19 vaccine. The Nets star has been one of the few high-profile holdouts, and it seems he's holding strong in his desire to not get the jab.

If Irving doesn't get the shot, he'll cost himself a lot of money and will hurt Brooklyn in the process. The Nets obviously have a ton of star power and will still be great even if Irving misses at least half the season, but the margin for error becomes smaller. The situation will also be a distraction that hangs over the entire team, even if they try to say it's not a big deal.

Another thing to consider is that once the playoffs roll around, the Nets having home-court advantage would mean more games without Irving on the court. Would they prefer a lower seed so he could play more playoff games? Maybe the situation is sorted out by then, but it's crazy to think about.