Nets star Kyrie Irving has been cleared to practice with the team in Brooklyn, as first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
This bit of good news is courtesy of a reinterpretation by New York City officials of the classification of the Nets’ practice facility with regard to the city’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. The Brooklyn facility, the HSS training center, has been determined to be a “private office building” rather than an “open indoor gym.”
Unfortunately for the Nets, Irving remains ineligible to play in home games due to his unvaccinated status. Irving has been away from the Nets since the team returned from California, where it held training camp and opened the preseason against the Lakers.
“We look forward to having him,” Nets coach Steve Nash before Friday’s preseason game against Milwaukee. “My first kind of thought is that it’s positive. We have him more on the team for a larger period of our season, and we’ll see what happens.”
However, Nash also expressed uncertainty about Irving’s status moving forward.
“This rule just came in,” Nash said. “Is another one coming? Or is he going to be allowed to play at home at some point? Is he not going to be able to practice at our facility at some point?”
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