Nets owner hopes Kyrie Irving gets vaccinated against COVID-19 'as soon as possible'

The Brooklyn Nets opened the 2021-22 season losers of three of their first five games without having All-Star guard Kyrie Irving in the lineup. The Nets essentially exiled Irving away from the team because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and, thus, cannot play in games held at Barclays Center or Madison Square Garden due to the New York City mandate that requires players to either be vaccinated or have an approved medical or religious exemption to enter those venues. 

According to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, Nets owner Joe Tsai told the Worldwide Leader Friday he hopes Irving chooses to receive one of the safe and available vaccines "as soon as possible" but added he doesn't know when or if the enigmatic 29-year-old will return to team activities. 

"Either he has to be vaccinated in order to come back if the New York mandate is still in place," Tsai explained during a sit-down chat. "And don't ask me when they may or may not change the New York mandate. Again, if you ask the people that are making decisions at the city level, they are going to say we are going to rely on science, rely on what the health department tells us [in order to proceed]."

Tsai added he hasn't spoken to Irving since the Nets announced on Oct. 12 they wouldn't accommodate him as a part-time player. 

"Obviously Kyrie has his own belief so I respect that," Tsai said during the interview. "But we have to make a team decision. This is not a decision about him. This is a decision about where we go as a team. And it is just not tenable for us to have a team with a player that comes in and out, no home games, only away games. What do you do in practice then?

"This week we have a whole stretch of six home games, so we won't have Kyrie. So it became pretty clear to us. We are very much aligned among myself, [GM] Sean [Marks], coaching staff that this has to be [the decision], especially since we're a team with pretty lofty aspirations. We don't see any other way of running this team."

Tsai also said the Nets will welcome Irving back if he complies with the New York mandate and that he wants the one-time champion to be part of the organization on a "long-term" basis. Irving can choose to hit free agency next summer if he wishes.