We’re less than two weeks away from the 2021-22 NBA season and Kyrie Irving is still nowhere to be found.
The Brooklyn Nets star is in serious jeopardy of missing the season opener and all home games as he refuses to get vaccinated, even if that means forfeiting nearly $20 million in salary.
Irving hasn’t reported back to the team or even practiced with them as he’s not allowed to play basketball indoors without getting the shot.
And, judging by the Nets’ promo for home games, they’re not expecting that situation to change any time soon, as he wasn’t even included.
Kyrie Irving is missing from the Nets email promoting home ticket sales 🙄 pic.twitter.com/Xj6QZtFIbY
— The Glue Guys (@BKGlueGuys) October 7, 2021
The Nets have been fully supportive of Kyrie’s personal choice not to get the vaccine, regardless of the reasons he may or may not have.
Then again, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith believes that Kevin Durant could reach a breaking point and ask for him to be traded as he’s hampering the team’s chances of being successful:
“The Brooklyn Nets can be special with Kyrie Irving. They can, no denying there. But they can be special without him too,” Smith said. “If KD says enough is enough, Kyrie is gone. Traded. That is if the Nets could still find a team to take him at this point. Many teams are resistant to bring him on because they say he is so bizarre. I know, I have spoken to some of them. Kyrie might just stop and retire. This is what they thinking. But eventually, KD has to realize that Kyrie’s vaccination status is impacting basketball. And basketball is all KD cares about. I have seen that man walk into a club with high-top sneakers on, ready to ball. I ain’t lying!”
Durant has never said something like that and he even claimed that he hopes Kyrie is a part of the team this season:
“I’m envisioning Kyrie being a part of our team,” Durant said after Wednesday’s practice. “Maybe I’m just naïve, but that is just how I feel. But I think everybody here has that confidence in themselves, in our group, that if we keep building, we can do something special.”
Kyrie is as talented as he is unpredictable so you never know what’s going to happen next with him. Hopefully, his team will be just fine.
The NBA is where amazing happens so who knows who this story will unfold. But, for now, we don’t see Kyrie playing, at least at home.
