Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving recently became eligible once again to play in home games due to the addition of an athletes and entertainers exemption to the New York City vaccine mandate.
At the beginning of the season, the Nets had decided it was best to not have Irving even in the fold as a part-time player. The situation changed after injuries and a wave of COVID-19 positive testing results created a need for every roster spot to be utilized.
The Nets have been working through Irving’s part-time player status with the idea of looming adjustments to the New York City vaccine mandate would come prior to the start of the playoffs. While it occurred later than expected, their willingness to remain flexible paid off.
Irving is set to make his Nets home debut on Sunday when the team takes on the Charlotte Hornets. It will be his first game at Barclays Center since Game 2 of the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Irving excited to get back to playing home games
Irving told reporters after Saturday’s shootaround that he is looking forward to playing back in Brooklyn again. When the news of changes to the New York City vaccine mandate was released, he was “pinching” himself due to the up and down nature of the way the situation has played out.
“Please take my comment seriously when I say I’ve been pinching myself since Wednesday and Thursday because there was a time where I got my hopes really, really high and all the air just got let out,” Irving said.
“I didn’t want to get too excited. Still tonight, I’m trying to stay focused on this game. But I know tomorrow will eventually come and I’m looking forward to playing back in Brooklyn.”
Durant happy to have situation behind Nets
Kevin Durant views Kyrie Irving’s restored eligibility to play at Barclays Center as being overdue. Regardless, it’ll be a significant boost to the team as they seek to close out a largely home-oriented remaining regular season schedule with one road game at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s a long time coming,” Durant said. “It’s an exciting time for Brooklyn Nets fans and New York fans to see one of our own back on the floor at home. It means a lot to our team, happy to have him back, and look forward to finishing the season strong.”
Durant also mentioned how he isn’t naive to the influence the looming start of the MLB season likely had on the adjustment to the New York City vaccine mandate.
“There’s no crying over spilled milk. It is what it is,” Durant said of the way things have played out this season. “But I’m not naive to the fact that the Mets and the Yankees, they have a lot of power in our city. I’m sure once they all helped and had conversations with whoever they needed to talk to, it was able to push it over the top. So sports is a huge factor in a lot of these major cities and I’m glad we can get things done for everybody to move forward. I know New York City fans are excited about it.”
Irving, Durant see restored status as key for consistency
It hasn’t been easy to build chemistry with a part-time player as Irving has been for much of this season. However, it’s all the more challenging when the roster has experienced plenty of changes. For example, the blockbuster deal that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers at the NBA trade deadline brought two new starters in Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.
Irving views every remaining game as “ultra-important” and being a full-time player will be important in establishing continuity during the stretch-run in addition to the actual playoff itself.
“Every game has felt ultra-important for the last 20 games, the last month. Me being in and out hasn’t helped in terms of our continuity and guys being in and out of the lineup. I think it’ll definitely give us some consistency,” Irving said. “But it could finally get us out of this do-or-die game mentality.”
Durant is looking forward to the energy the home crowd will bring the Nets on Sunday when they take on the Charlotte Hornets at Barclays Center.
“It’s great for continuity,” Durant said. “Great to know that coming off the road, we don’t have to worry about adjusting our lineups or our game plans based off of Kyrie not being there, so hopefully on Sunday we get even more energy from our fan base and help us get that W, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Nash interested in impact on lineups
With the Nets no longer having to factor out Irving when they return home to play at Barclays Center, coach Steve Nash is interested to see the results the group can achieve as they experiment with different combinations and rotations leading into the playoffs.
“It’d be great if there’s a lift,” Nash said. “For me, I’m really just interested in the time playing together, getting a chance to work and play regularly and start to find some combinations and rotations that make sense for us going into the playoffs.”
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