The Nets had Kyrie Irving back at practice Sunday, but coach Steve Nash acknowledged the team will be without him for at least some games this year, saying, « it just depends on when, where and how much. »
Kyrie Irving returned to practice Sunday, but the Brooklyn Nets sound like a team coming to grips with the realization that its starting point guard will not play in home games for the foreseeable future. While the situation around Irving’s availability for home games due to New York City’s COVID-19 protocols could change, Nets coach Steve Nash said he knows he will have to play games this season without Irving. « We recognize he’s not playing in home games, » Nash told reporters after Irving practiced with the team in Brooklyn for the first time this preseason. « We are going to have to for sure play without him this year. So it just depends on when, where and how much. » New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate requires a person to have proof of at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to enter indoor gyms — including Barclays Center, the home of the Nets, and Madison Square Garden, the home of the Knicks. But on Friday, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that Irving would be allowed to practice at the team’s HSS Training Center after the city determined that the Nets’ practice facility in Brooklyn is a « private office building » as opposed to an indoor gym.
