Stephen A. Smith says Nets should Kyrie Irving if he won’t get vaccine

With Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status remaining uncertain, should the Nets try to trade him?

Kyrie Irving was not allowed to attend Brooklyn Nets media day over this week due to local health and safety protocols, and while GM Sean Marks has said he’s hopeful all Nets players will be able to fully participate in team activities soon, Irving says he wants to keep his vaccination status private.

Due to local regulations, players with a home market of New York City and San Francisco will not be allowed to play in home games if they do not receive a COVID-19 vaccine. On Wednesday, the NBA announced that players who miss games due over vaccination requirements will also forfeit all pay for those games. Such rules only affect players appearing in home games, meaning that an unvaccinated visitor could still play in Brooklyn against the Nets.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith argued this week that the Nets must trade Irving if he refuses to get the vaccine.

“How can you commit to any player, even one as magnificent and brilliant as Kyrie Irving, if he’s going to miss half your games? How can you do that if you’re trying to win a championship?”

This post originally appeared on Nets Wire.

[mm-video type=video id=01fgbxkth3rh3gcc36eb playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fgbxkth3rh3gcc36eb/01fgbxkth3rh3gcc36eb-93787a633435b7140564d152dac177aa.jpg]

[vertical-gallery id=23837]