Getty Brooklyn's Kyrie Irving drives against Knicks guard Derrick Rose during their game at Barclays Center on April 05, 2021 in New York City.
The NBA is in disarray right now due to its uptick in players entering health and safety protocols. As it stands now, over 50 players have entered the league’s protocols and more than 5 games have been postponed due to a lack of available players on team rosters. The Brooklyn Nets are not immune to this, as they had to sit 10 players in their game on Saturday against the Orlando Magic including superstars Kevin Durant and James Harden. Nets forward Blake Griffin described the league’s enforcement of their health and safety protocols in a postgame interview.
“It’s almost like you get pulled out of class, and everybody’s kind of like ‘ooooooooooh’”, Griffin said. “It’s just crazy, man. I don’t know how to really describe it. I feel like you just walk in the locker room, and you just look at everybody and laugh, and then you just move on.”
More from Blake Griffin on the NBA’s COVID protocols:
“It’s almost like you get pulled out of class, and everybody’s kind of like ‘ooooooooooh'”
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Sean Marks Gets Candid on Decision To Reinstate Kyrie Irving
In a bombshell announcement on Friday, the Nets announced that they have begun the process of bringing back their All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving. Before the start of this season Nets General Manager Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai had vowed to not let Irving participate in any games this season without being vaccinated. Marks spoke to the media in response to the team’s decision and what the final straw was on their choice to bring back the 7-time All-Star.
“The overall environment has changed, as we all know. Drastically it has changed; Not only for the Nets. It’s changed from our staff perspective, our players perspective, it changed from what’s happening outside of Barclays,” said Marks on he and Joe Tsai’s reasoning per NetsDaily.
“COVID has done a number on the team and our society in general. Managing our overall player load; that’s something we got to be aware of throughout the course of the season. We have seen the large minutes our guys have had to endure, play and we got to look at what’s best for the team over the course of the season.”
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Steve Nash ‘Excited’ To Have Kyrie Back
Nets head coach Steve Nash also had some words about the front office’s decision to reinstate Kyrie, saying that their original decision to sit him was based largely on continuity issues. Ironically the same thing has caused them to bring Irving back into the fold.
“I’m excited to have Kyrie back. Obviously, he’s an incredible player, and no matter what capacity we incorporate him, he’s just a positive for our group,” said Nash per NetsDaily. “We first took the decision not to have him with us for continuity at the onset of a season and, frankly, continuity has been thrown out the window with COVID and injuries and whatnot.”
With the new Omnicron variant of the coronavirus running rampant many of the league’s brightest stars have had to enter into the league’s health and safety protocols. But no team has been more affected than the Nets. Brooklyn has had several of their games postponed because they have so many players out due to health and safety protocols including their Thursday night matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers. Their next scheduled game is against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day.
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