Nets' Kyrie Irving expected to make season debut on Wednesday

The Nets initially would not allow the point guard to play until he got vaccinated against COVID-19, but reversed course last month in the wake of multiple players testing positive. His debut was postponed after Irving himself, who is still unvaccinated, tested positive.

Irving said at the beginning of the season that he "respected" the Nets' decision to not allow him to participate, although that apparently didn't change his mind about getting inoculated in order to play in home games this season.

"I really had to sit back and think and try not to become too emotionally attached to what they were deciding to do," he said, via ESPN. "I had to really evaluate things and see it from their perspective, meaning the organization, my teammates. I really empathized and I understood their choice to say if you are not going to be fully vaccinated, then you can't be a full [participant]."

Meanwhile, Brooklyn's opponent for Wednesday's game is dealing with its own COVID-19 outbreak.