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Kyrie Irving returned on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn’t for a game or even a real practice, but it was a small step forward.
The mercurial Nets superstar goaltender, who had been estranged from the squad since returning from the West Coast on Monday, participated in light public practice at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Irving, the only player to wear a face mask on Saturday, missed a full week of training and Friday’s preseason game against the Bucks over his refusal to comply with local vaccine mandates. But after New York City determined on Friday that the Nets’ training facility was a private office building, he can now return to training in Brooklyn starting Sunday.
He received a loud ovation from the crowd upon his introduction and immersed himself in the community event. Irving toured with his teammates and played in a team-wide knockout game. He threw miniature basketballs and T-shirts into the crowd and signed autographs.
“I think we’re going step by step, so have everyone here outside at this [event] is pretty special, ”Reserve Guard Patty Mills said at the event.
Mills, the only Nets member available to reporters, said Irving had yet to speak to the team about his current plans, but expected those talks to happen at some point.
“We haven’t had a chance to catch up yet, but I’m sure those conversations will come,” he said.
While Irving can now train with his teammates in Brooklyn, he is still at risk of missing 43 regular season games – 41 home games at the Barclays Center and two at the Garden against the Knicks – until he gets done. vaccinate.
Irving hasn’t spoken to reporters since his interview with Zoom on media day almost two weeks ago, and it’s unclear what he and the Nets plan to do about his status. Do the Nets agree that the seven-time All-Star is a part-time player, since he can at least train full-time? Is Irving softening in his anti-vaccination stance?
Ahead of Saturday’s event, Irving posted a tweet that didn’t appear to indicate he was ready to get a COVID-19 shot.
“I am protected by God and my people too. We are united, ”he wrote.
Other stars Kevin Durant and James Harden have refused to publicly push Irving to get the shot, though both have said they want him on the full-time squad. Harden admitted that Irving’s absence for a while would hurt the Nets on the ground.
“I hope we find a solution,” Durant said on Friday.
It’s also unclear if Irving will be in a game before the start of the regular season, which begins a week from Tuesday against defending champion Milwaukee. He was excluded from the Nets’ preseason opener against the Lakers last Sunday, although he was eligible to participate since he was played in Los Angeles. Irving could play in Monday’s game in Philadelphia, but head coach Steve Nash said on Friday that since Irving missed so much practice time, he wasn’t sure he could make it into that game.
At least on Saturday he was back with the squad, and on Sunday he could participate in his first practice in over a week. The problem is clearly not resolved, but it is better for Irving to continue to be estranged from his teammates.
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