Nets fined $50K
Letting Kyrie in locker room proves costly
The NBA has fined the Nets $50,000 for allowing Kyrie Irving into the locker room during halftime of the Nets’ 110-107 victory over the Knicks on Sunday.
Irving, who is unvaccinated and thus ineligible to play at Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden due to New York City’s private sector vaccine mandate, is allowed to enter the arenas as a spectator but not allowed to work or enter workplace areas. The locker room is considered a workplace area at Barclays Center, and the league hit the Nets with a fine for violating local health and safety protocols.
In related news, Kevin Durant issued a statement on Monday claiming he was frustrated when he lit into Mayor Adams for the COVID-19 vaccine mandate that restricts Irving from playing home games for the Nets.
“The last two years have been a difficult and painful time for New Yorkers, as well as a very confusing time with the changing landscape of the rules and mandates,” Durant wrote in a statement. “I do appreciate the task the Mayor has in front of him with all the city has been through. My frustration with the situation doesn’t change the fact that I will always be committed to helping the communities and cities I live in and play in.”
Sunday, Durant was not so kind to
Hizzoner.
“I don’t get it,” he said after the game. “At this point now, it feels like somebody’s trying to make a statement or a point to flex their autority, but everybody out here is looking for attention, and that’s what I feel the mayor wants right now is some attention.”
Due to the mandate – and Irving’s unwillingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in a city once labeled the epicenter of the global pandemic in the United States – the star guard is only eligible to play in four of the Nets’ remaining 14 games.
The All-Star guard is averaging 26 points and five assists per game this season, but has only appeared in 18 games.