Irving is ineligible to play in Friday home pre-season game against the Milwaukee Bucks due to New York's Covid-19 vaccination rules for indoor businesses; mandates prohibit unvaccinated individuals from working in or attending events at many indoor spaces, including entertainment venues
Saturday 9 October 2021 08:33, UK
James Harden says he is eager to have Brooklyn Nets team-mate Kyrie Irving return to the court.
Irving was ineligible for Friday night's home preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks due to New York's Covid-19 vaccination rules for indoor businesses.
Mandates in New York prohibit unvaccinated individuals from working in or attending events at many indoor spaces, including entertainment venues.
Similar rules are in place in San Francisco and will go into effect in Los Angeles as of November 29.
Irving has made clear he does not want to receive the vaccine, even if that means missing 41 home games plus road games against the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.
"If [Irving's] not on the court, yeah [it would hurt us]. He's one of our best players and one of our leaders," Harden said after practice Thursday. "I want him to be on the team, of course."
Harden was asked if he hopes Irving gets vaccinated.
"He's been a huge part since I've been here, a huge part of our success," said the 2018 NBA MVP. "The success we did have last year, we were kind of finding a rhythm, that chemistry that we've built.
"He's just a special talent that you don't really see often, so of course I would want him to be on the team. He's one of the reasons why I came here."
Harden was traded to the Nets in January, and Irving joined the team in 2019.
The NBA is not mandating players receive the vaccine, but is imposing strict rules for those who decline it. The league and the players association agreed on a pay reduction equivalent to 1/91.6 of an individual's salary for each game missed due to local markets' vaccine mandates.
Irving is now allowed to practice at the team's home facility after the building's status was reclassified.
According to The Athletic and ESPN, the Nets' practice facility in Brooklyn, the HSS Training Center, has been reclassified as a "private office building" instead of a gym. Gyms and large entertainment venues like Barclays Center fall under the city's mandate, while private offices do not.
That means Irving can rejoin the team for home practices going forward - but it does not settle the matter of Brooklyn's 41 home games this upcoming season.
Irving sat out the Nets' first preseason home game Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks, listed as "ineligible" by the team due to his vaccination status.
Brooklyn open the regular season with two road games before welcoming the Charlotte Hornets for an October 24 home opener.
