MISSING PERSON
Kyrie unable to practice with Nets due to NY vax protocols
The Nets returned to Brooklyn to resume practice on Tuesday, but Kyrie Irving was not present due to the city’s vaccination protocols after spending a week with the team at training camp in California.
The Nets’ optimism “is waning” concerning Irving’s “ultimate intentions to get vaccinated,” ESPN reported Tuesday night, adding the organization has made “no decision” whether it will support the All-Star guard if he is forced to miss games this season.
Irving has asked for privacy when it comes to his COVID vaccine decision, but it is believed he has yet to receive the jab and is currently ineligible to participate in games or practice with the team in Brooklyn until he does so.
“Kyrie is not here today. … No further update,” Nets coach Steve Nash said after practice at HSS Training Center. “We support him. We are here for him. Things change. When there’s a resolution, we’re here for him.”
The All-Star guard also was unable to attend the team’s media day on Sept. 26 due to health and safety protocols in New York City, speaking with the media that day only via Zoom. He joined his teammates in San Diego and practiced for five straight days before sitting on the bench while wearing a mask during Sunday’s preseason opener against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
“We’re just focusing on our work,” Nash said. “We’ve got a great energy, great camp. Guys are playing hard, enjoying it, doing everything we’re asking, so we just focus on every day and trying to get better and the things we can control.”
The Nets’ are scheduled to play Friday at Barclays Center against the Bucks, with a visit to Philadelphia (Monday) and a home game against Minnesota (Oct. 14) rounding out the preseason slate before the regular season begins Oct. 19 in Milwaukee. Brooklyn’s first home game will be Oct. 24 against the Hornets, giving Irving less than three weeks to be in compliance for game action.
Nash twice said that he hasn’t “discussed” with the 29-year-old Irving what the team expects him to do during private workouts until he is permitted to rejoin them. Asked if he’s concerned about not being able to hold another practice with the full roster while the team is in New York during that span, Nash added, “I’m not really worried about anything. We’re just trying to work every day. We came in [Tuesday] and had a great practice and we’ll do the same [Wednesday] and that’s kind of where I leave it.” The Nets conceivably could arrange to practice outside the city limits — perhaps on Long Island, where their G-League team is located — to include Irving, but Nash rejected that possibility.
“No, this is our home, this is where we’re going to practice and we have almost a whole group,” Nash said. “So that’s a positive and we’re just working at getting better every day and focusing on the things we can control.”
Nets owner Joe Tsai told The Post’s Brian Lewis last week in California that while he respects Irving’s choice to not be vaccinated, the organization hopes the seventime All-Star will relent pursuant with the team’s expectations of competing for a championship behind Irving and fellow Big 3 stars Kevin Durant and James Harden.
“Kyrie talks about it as a sort of personal-choice issue, which I respect. But we all need to not forget our goal,” Tsai said. “What is our goal this year? What’s our purpose this year? It’s very, very clear: Win a championship. And the championship team needs to have everybody pulling the same direction . ... So I hope to see Kyrie play fully and win a championship together with everybody else, with all his teammates.”
Veteran Patty Mills, who was signed in the offseason after 10 years with the Spurs, likely would see increased minutes in the backcourt if Irving is forced to miss games.
“I think my [preparation] is always going to be what I can control on the floor,” Mills said. “I have been able to pick brains and try to get better and learn on the fly, but I don’t think anything will [change] how I prepare for myself to play.”