After Saturday’s outdoor Practice in the Park event brought Kyrie Irving into his first local practice with the Brooklyn Nets this season, Sunday saw him hit the floor at the team’s Industry City training facility for the first time since a Friday ruling that New York City’s vaccine mandate did not affect his participation at the private facility.
Jersey off the back from KAI 🙏 pic.twitter.com/VuCzjRSHDj
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) October 9, 2021
Yet coach Steve Nash acknowledged that it’s likely Irving won’t be playing in games or practices at Barclays Center until further notice.
“We recognize he’s not playing in home games,” Nash told reporters on Sunday. “We are going to have to for sure play without him this year. So it just depends on when, where and how much.
“We are just starting to navigate this. A new rule comes in Friday and here we are. We are trying to look at the big picture. The near term, right now I am not sure we have as many answers.”
Steve Nash on Kyrie Irving: "I think we recognize he’s not playing home games. We’re going to have to for sure play without him this year. So it just depends on when, where and how much." #Nets #NBA
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) October 10, 2021
More than 95% of NBA players have been vaccinated to date, and those who remain unvaccinated will be subject to frequent testing and numerous restrictions on their activity and travel, in addition to complying with social distancing regulations during all stages of indoor meeting and activity.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
