Brooklyn Nets GM says some of its players are not in compliance with New York vaccine mandate

If his team were to train today, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks has said some players will be unable to participate due to New York City’s vaccination mandate.

“As to whether they could play today, I can’t comment on who might play and so on,” Marks said at the team’s preseason press conference on Tuesday. “There would obviously be a few people missing in this photo.

“I won’t go into who it is, but we’re confident in the next few days before camp everyone will be allowed to participate and so on.”

When asked if he thought the issue would be resolved before the regular season games started next month, Marks simply replied, “That’s okay.”

Earlier this month, the NBA informed teams that players whose home teams play in cities that have implemented local COVID-19 vaccine mandates – currently in New York and San Francisco – will need them. respect.

The New York Executive Order, which came into effect on September 13, states that anyone over the age of 12 will not be allowed into “certain indoor premises” inside the city – including the Barclays Center, Madison Square Garden as well as any other indoor gym or fitness room – without providing proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, unless there is an approved medical or religious exemption for it. they don’t.

The Nets will host a media day Monday in Brooklyn, before heading to San Diego for training camp and playing their first preseason game in California against the Los Angeles Lakers. The team’s first preseason game in Brooklyn will take place on October 8, while Brooklyn’s regular-season home opener at the Barclays Center will not take place until October 24, when the Nets host the Charlotte Hornets.

“Obviously I can’t go into details for various reasons, whether it’s HIPAA violations or whoever it is, [but] I think we all understand what’s at stake and we’ve had some very frank conversations, ”Marks said of the vaccine discussions with the Nets players. “These are individual decisions. … It’s obviously out of our control.

“We support vaccination and building a healthy squad. So at this point I think we’re ready to go into the season, we don’t see them – whether it’s a term to the scale of the city or a league to follow – being a kind of obstacle to put us on a team. “

Meanwhile, Marks said James Harden and Kyrie Irving, who finished last season with hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively, “look great” and have worked with the Brooklyn medical team.

Both players, however, did not follow Kevin Durant’s lead and agreed to a contract extension to stay with Brooklyn going forward. Durant agreed to do so last month, signing a four-year, $ 198 million extension with the franchise. Harden and Irving are eligible, but did not, which Marks hopes to change in the coming weeks.

“We’ve had some really positive conversations with these two guys and – whether it’s family, people, etc. – I think it always helps to do these things in person,” Marks said. “It’s summer, we are very conscious of letting people have their free time before we all pick up the pace here.

“We look forward to sitting down with them over the next week, two weeks, and continuing these discussions.”

He added that the talks the three have already had about wanting to be with the Nets in the future gives him confidence that the deals will be made with Harden and Irving – both of whom can become unrestricted free agents in the next summer if they don’t extend their current offers.

“I didn’t really see it as a distraction per se,” Marks said. “These guys know exactly how we feel, and I think they’ve expressed their desire to be a part of this and to build this together.

“I think we have an opportunity to hopefully build something special here for the foreseeable future. The fact that they want to collaborate, they want to come here together, they want to build this together. these discussions with Steve [Nash] and myself and obviously the property, who has been incredibly supportive throughout it all, and with the players. Like any decision, it’s a partnership and it’s a collaboration. “

The Nets – after losing heartbreak in overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks – enter this season as favorites to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy .

Marks said the Nets are prepared to meet those expectations head-on.

“I think our goal is to be the last team in the game,” said Marks. “There are probably, I guess, six, eight, 10 teams that have the same, similar goal and a realistic goal. For us it’s about owning it and not running away from it and doing whatever we can. to put the people in place – whether it’s the staff, the players, completing the roster – to try to accomplish that. “