Well, we all saw this one coming.
After the Nets announced that Kyrie Irving would be returning to the team amid a league-wide COVID-19 outbreak on Friday, Irving entered the NBA’s protocols on Saturday, according to the Athletic.
Irving is the ninth player on the Nets to enter protocols after Kevin Durant was put on the list earlier Saturday morning. He needs five consecutive days of negative tests to rejoin the team.
Irving, who is unvaccinated, has sat out the season to this point because of New York City’s vaccine mandate. Even once he rejoins the team, he won’t be allowed to play home games unless Mayor-elect Eric Adams repeals the law put in place by Bill deBlasio.
The Nets initially said they had no interest in using Irving as a part-time player, but circumstances seemingly forced their hand.
After playing this week with the league-mandated minimum number of players on their roster, the Nets decided that some Kyrie was better than no Kyrie at all. The team was roundly criticized for caving to Irving on Friday night. And the PR nightmare prompted by the decision has quickly turned up to 11.
The Nets are currently one of the hardest-hit teams by COVID, though the league as a whole is struggling with the virus — as is every other pro sport.