Lthe NBA fined the Brooklyn Nets with 50.000 dlares for letting into the locker room Kyrie Irving in last Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks, despite the fact that the player could not have contact with his team by not complying with the vaccination mandate in force in New York.
Irving, who refuses to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, can’t play Nets home games and in the last derby against the Knicks he bought some tickets at the foot of the field to follow his teammates as a fan, something that is allowed by the health mandate.
However, he also entered the locker room to meet with his teammates, which is prohibited by regulation, and the NBA made it official with a note his $50,000 fine to the Nets.
The current regulation in New York provides for the obligation of vaccination for residents who work in person in the state, so Irving falls into this category.
The former Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics player was also at Barclays Center last Saturday to watch a Duke game against Virginia Tech in college basketball.
At the end of the meeting, Kevin Durantdecisive with 53 points in the victory of the Nets, assured that he sees no point in the fact that Irving can enter the stadium as a fan, but cannot compete with his teammates.
Also the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silverrecognized last February that he sees the current format of the New York health mandate as incorrect, which does not allow unvaccinated local players to compete, but allows unvaccinated visitors.
The same Sunday of the game, the mayor of New York highlighted in a public speech that “Irving can compete now, if he gets vaccinated“, when responding to requests to modify the current health mandate.
The Nets are experiencing a delicate situation in the Eastern Conference, where they are eighth, and they would need to play the “play in” to access the “playoffs”.
At the moment, the Nets will face the Toronto Raptorsseventh, so they should risk their lives on the visit to Canada, where Irving will not be able to enter because he is not vaccinated.
This season Irving is averaging 25.9 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
