Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving became the eighth and ninth Nets players to enter the N.B.A.’s coronavirus protocols, a list of absences that could leave the team unable to play.
On Friday evening, the Nets announced they would allow Kyrie Irving, the star guard whom they barred from the team until he received a Covid-19 vaccination, to rejoin the team part time. By Saturday afternoon, that plan was on hold: Irving, who remains unvaccinated, has entered the league’s health and safety protocols, part of a leaguewide spike in coronavirus-related absences.
Irving is just the latest Nets star on the team’s growing list of unavailable players. Earlier Saturday, the Nets confirmed that the star forward Kevin Durant had also entered the protocols and would miss Saturday’s game against the Orlando Magic in Brooklyn. Durant and Irving became the eighth and ninth Nets players declared ineligible to play for virus-related reasons, a growing list of absences that has left the team in danger of not having enough players to compete.
It is unknown if Durant, Irving or any other Net has tested positive for the coronavirus. Players, coaches and team staff members do not have to test positive to enter the league’s health and safety protocols: a close contact with someone who has tested positive or even an inconclusive test can make a player or coach subject to the rules about returning. Once in the protocols, players cannot return to play until they have isolated for 10 days or returned multiple negative test results in a specified time period.
According to the league’s health and safety rules, Durant, who is vaccinated, can return after he records two negative tests at least 24 hours apart. Irving, because he is unvaccinated, faces much stricter rules before he is even allowed to return to practice.
Earlier, the Nets had said only that Durant would not play Saturday because of an ankle injury. On Saturday afternoon, they announced he had entered the virus protocols. About an hour later, the team said Irving was out for the same reason.
The Nets had revealed their plans to return Irving to the team on a part-time basis in a statement on Friday evening, despite his continuing refusal to be vaccinated and even as coronavirus cases surge in New York City. Because of local health regulations, he will only be eligible to play selected road games, and none at all in New York.
The announcement was a surprising about-face for a franchise that had said in no uncertain terms earlier this year that it was not open to Irving’s working part time. As a result of a New York City edict from the summer mandating that employees and patrons of indoor dining, gyms and other similar establishments be vaccinated, Irving is still barred from playing home games at Barclays Center without a valid medical or religious exemption.
Those rules mean Irving also is ineligible to play against the crosstown Knicks, and similar regulations will soon prevent him from taking part in road games against the Toronto Raptors. (The Canadian government, beginning next month, will bar unvaccinated athletes from entering the country.)
The Nets, who are 21-8 and are in the top spot in the Eastern Conference, cited their high number of players in the league’s health and safety protocols as justification for bringing back Irving.
“After discussions with our coaches, players and staff, the organization has decided to have Kyrie Irving rejoin the team for games and practices in which he is eligible to participate,” Sean Marks, the Nets’ general manager, said.
Marks said the decision had the “full support of our players” and came after “careful consideration of our current circumstances.” In addition, Marks said, “we believe that the addition of Kyrie will not only make us a better team but allow us to more optimally balance the physical demand on the entire roster.”
Before the Nets’ announcement, Irving posted a video on his Instagram story showing himself wearing basketball shoes. Now he is out, too.
Last month, New York City’s mayor-elect, Eric Adams, said the city would not change its vaccine requirements once he takes office next month. A representative for Adams did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether there had been a change in plans.
If Irving takes the floor for the Nets’ next road game, Dec. 23 against the Portland Trailblazers, he will be allowed to play in 24 remaining games in the regular season. Irving is slated to lose half of his salary this year as a result of not playing at Barclays, unless he agrees to be vaccinated.
Irving’s potential return to the Nets is, at least outwardly, an awkward visual for the Nets and the N.B.A. In New York City, the pandemic has continued to rage with the arrival of the Omicron variant, with long lines surrounding testing sites as a result of a surge in cases.
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A new U.S. surge. The C.D.C said that the Omicron variant’s rapid spread in the U.S. may portend a surge in infections as soon as January, but cases are already spiking, leading offices to cancel holiday parties, Broadway performances to be shuttered and college finals to be moved online.
But the virus continues to cause problems across sports. In recent weeks, multiple N.B.A. teams have had to cancel practices, postpone games and place dozens of players in protocols as a result of rising cases. On Friday, the N.F.L. postponed three games as a result of outbreaks, and half of the matches in England’s Premier League this weekend were canceled because of outbreaks on several teams. Medical experts say unvaccinated athletes, like Irving and others, remain the most at risk from the coronavirus.
While 97 percent of N.B.A. players are vaccinated and the league has run advertisements promoting vaccines, Irving remains the most visible vaccine holdout. His stance has made him a particular cause célèbre of conservatives in the United States, such as Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, who publicly praised Irving for holding out, and those who have spread vaccine misinformation.
Irving has not publicly discussed his unwillingness to receive the vaccine. He has developed a penchant for dipping into controversy throughout his career, however, such as suggesting a serious belief that the Earth is flat.
When Irving was signed by Brooklyn in the summer of 2019, he was made a key face of the franchise along with his close friend Durant. Two years later, the anti-vaccine movement did the same, even protesting on his behalf in front of Barclays before this season’s home opener.
Both Marks and the Nets owner Joe Tsai were publicly steadfast in saying Irving would not be allowed to take the floor part time for the Nets unless he was vaccinated to comply with the city’s mandate. Tsai told ESPN in October that “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.”
That same month, Marks told reporters: “Our focus, our coaches’ focus and our organization’s focus needs to be on those players that are going to be involved here and participating fully,” adding, “this is a choice that Kyrie had, and he was aware of that.”
On Friday, Marks changed his tune. “We look forward to Kyrie’s return to the lineup,” he said, “as well as getting our entire roster back together on the court.”
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