The Brooklyn Nets continue to hold out hope for a change in policy that will enable Kyrie Irving to once again be eligible to play in home games in Barclays Center.
After Monday’s shootaround, Kevin Durant described Irving as being “frustrated” with the process. Trust remains that it’ll be “figured out” at some point, but for now, Durant made it clear the Nets home crowd and Irving miss each other.
“He’s frustrated in not being able to play,” Durant said. “He figured this stuff would be rolled back by now, we’d be way past this. But it’s the situation we’re in, we got to deal with it, he’s got to deal with it. Trusting that it’ll get figured out there soon. I have no clue what may happen, but I’m just trusting that things will work itself out. But I’m sure he misses playing in front of a home crowd and the home crowd, vice versa, they miss him. So hopefully we get it figured out soon.”
Some have suggested Irving receive the COVID-19 vaccination ahead of the playoffs to restore his eligibility to participate in not only home games, but also to be able to face off against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena in the event of a road play-in matchup.
Durant explained how Irving’s vaccination status is “out of my control” and “you can’t force anybody” to do something of that nature, so he’s going to remain focused on himself.
“I mean, what is it, April almost?” Durant said. “It’s pretty obvious that he’s not going to take the shot. So like I said, just focus on who you are and what you bring to the team every day and once that situation gets figured out, then it will. It’s out of my control, it’s out of everybody else’s control. So you can’t force anybody to do anything. So just try to just focus on me.”
Time is running out for Irving to become eligible to play in Nets home games in advance of the start of the playoffs. There are 10 games left on their regular season schedule with him being eligible to play in just three of them. Of those three games, two take place this week.
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