Brooklyn Nets star point guard Kyrie Irving will miss the team’s media day Monday over health and safety protocols, ESPN and The Athletic reported.
Irving is unvaccinated and is not allowed to practice or play – or ostensibly attend media day – in Brooklyn, per local regulations, until he gets at least the first of two vaccine shots for COVID-19.
It is anticipated Irving will meet the media via Zoom later Monday.
Irving is expected to accompany the Nets to San Diego, where they will begin training camp. However, a report Sunday suggested Irving does not want to get the vaccine, with his aunt suggesting he wants to play in a limited number of games.
“We trust in Kyrie,” Kevin Durant said Monday. “I expect us to have our whole team at some point.”
Roughly 50 to 60 NBA players have yet to receive the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, Rolling Stone reported. Included in that group is the outspoken Andrew Wiggins, who, like Irving in New York City, faces regulations in San Francisco that would prevent him from practicing or playing in home Warriors games until he’s vaccinated.
The 2021-22 NBA regular season begins Oct. 19, when the Nets are scheduled to play the Milwaukee Bucks on the road. Their home opener is Oct. 24 against Charlotte.
Irving is no stranger to missing games for personal reasons. He took an 11-day, seven-game leave of absence from the Nets early in the 2020-21 season for what he deemed “family and personal stuff.”
–Field Level Media