Kevin Durant Opens Up On Conversation With Kyrie Irving About Vaccination: “I Gave Him How I Felt About It And We Talked About It, But That’s Ultimately His Decision.”

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Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Brooklyn Nets started the 2021-22 NBA season as the odds-on-favorite to win the 2022 NBA Championship. However, the season has not gone as planned for them. They lost star player James Harden after he forced his way to Philadelphia to play with Joel Embiid, mainly because of the uncertain availability of Kyrie Irving.

New York City has a vaccine mandate that requires Irving to be vaccinated in order to play for the Brooklyn Nets in the Barclays Center. This mandate was the main reason Harden left the team as he carried the load during Durant’s injuries earlier this season with Irving unable to play.

With the vaccine mandate still holding Irving back and Ben Simmons struggling with a back injury, Durant has found himself in the spot that caused Harden to leave. Durant has been asked about Irving’s vaccination status a lot and he explained his conversations with Kyrie about the same.

“Me and Kyrie had conversations about the vaccine and what it meant to him, meant to me. At the end of the day, I didn’t think it was my decision on what he wanted to do with the vaccine. I gave him how I felt about it and we talked about it, but that’s ultimately his decision.” 

Durant being a respectful teammate and not pressuring Irving into a vaccine he is uncomfortable with makes sense. With various other states lifting vaccine mandates, the hope in Brooklyn is that New York does the same, something Durant made explicitly clear to NYC Mayor Eric Adams.

The Nets are currently the eighth seed in the East and look to be locked into the play-in unless they can make a strong stand in the last month of the season and hope to leapfrog the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors for the sixth seed. 

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Ishaan Bhattacharya is a content manager for Fadeaway World from New Delhi, India. With his expertise in NBA content creation, Ishaan brings a wealth of experience to his role, contributing to the site's authority and reach within the basketball community. Over the last year, Ishaan has interviewed Ray Allen and Mark Tatum, while also covering the 2023 NBA Abu Dhabi Games which saw the Dallas Mavericks take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.Since joining Fadeaway World in March 2022, Ishaan Bhattacharya has become known for his unique perspective on the NBA. He consistently delivers this insight through his daily news coverage and detailed opinion pieces on the most significant topics in the league.Before his tenure at Fadeaway World, Ishaan worked in corporate communications, where he serviced prominent sports brands, including NBA India, Sports18, Amazon Prime Sports, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. This experience in strategic communications for leading sports entities has enhanced his ability to craft impactful narratives and connect with a global audience.A true MFFLer (Mavs Fan for Life, for the uninitiated), Ishaan is a massive fan of the Dallas Mavericks. When he is not upset about Jalen Brunson walking in free agency, you can see Ishaan as an avid gamer and content creator. His passion for basketball extends beyond the Mavericks, as evidenced by his thoughtfully curated NBA Mount Rushmore, featuring LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill Russell—each representing distinct eras and bringing their unique qualities to the game.Featured On: ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher ReportYahoo Sports, NBA, Fox Sports, The Spun
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