The Kyrie Irving saga continues, but the Brooklyn Nets are ready to move forward with or without the player being part of the team. Kyrie has refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine, which will force him to miss home games.
Well, the Nets ultimately made the decision to not allow Kyrie to be a part-time player, insisting he must take the vaccine to return to the team and end all this drama. It doesn’t look like the player is changing his stance, but the organization isn’t entertaining that anymore.
With Kyrie away from the team, Kevin Durant and James Harden will have the job to carry this team to the NBA Finals next season. Both players are ready for the challenge, as Harden recently explained. The former Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder player is ready to face rivals with the players they have right now, focusing on who is in the facility instead of the external noise.
Talking with reporters on Wednesday, the 2018 NBA MVP said that he had no say in the team’s decision to move Kyrie away while he remains unvaccinated.
“That’s the front office. We had conversations, as far as a collective unit, and the ultimate decision that the front office made was that if Ky wasn’t gonna be here full-time, then it’s best for him not to be on the team part-time. I have no say so in that, and I can only state my opinion. We gotta continue to move forward. Obviously we would love to have Kyrie here.”
James Harden says the decision on Kyrie Irving was ultimately made by the Nets' front office:
"I have no say-so in that, I can only state my opinion. We gotta continue to move forward" pic.twitter.com/voCYqvGWRN
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) October 13, 2021
Harden admitted that knowing that direction the team is taking was good for him. Uncertainty is not what they need right now and it’s good to see they made up their mind in this situation.
“I think that was a part of it,” Harden said of why they made the decision, via Yahoo Sports. “Now, it’s just every single game, we got guys who know what their role is consistently, what they’re supposed to be doing night in and night out.”
“I think for us, we just gotta focus on the guys in this locker room, and that’s here, that’s putting in the work every single day,” Harden added. “That’s all we can control, that’s all we can focus on. Every single day is already a struggle. It’s already difficult just ‘cause we’re trying to catch up, we’re trying to put it together. So I think that’s the main thing we can focus on, is getting better every single day as a unit whoever is in the locker room and preparing for game with us.”
"We just gotta focus on the guys in this locker room that are here…that's all we can control"
James Harden on Kyrie Irving not being with the Nets: pic.twitter.com/wXCCDv8qjj
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) October 13, 2021
Kyrie keeps raising eyebrows around the league with his decision. He asked people to respect his privacy while he and the team figured things out, but it seems like the Nets are tired of waiting.
Some say Kyrie could return if the Nets were to trade him, which seems unlikely right now. Still, this situation can create more issues for the franchise and the player. They will need to fix the problem before it gets out of control.
