Kyrie Irving return to Nets as part-time player reeks of negligence

Christmas gifts, at minimum, are supposed to smell good.

Socks can be ugly, yes; gift cards are predictable, sure; but something that smells off? You don’t want that under your Christmas tree.

Yet while the Nets have gift-wrapped Kyrie Irving for the holiday season, both the package and the delivery crew have an odd stench. It reeks of a team risking a player’s health and wellbeing in the name of a game they want to win.

Irving, who is unvaccinated, is set to return to the team as a part-time player exclusively for road games after he tests negative for COVID-19 for five consecutive days.

“After discussions with our coaches, players and staff, the organization has decided to have Kyrie Irving re-join the team for games and practices in which he is eligible to participate,” the Nets said in a statement. “We arrived at this decision with the full support of our players and after careful consideration of our current circumstances, including players missing games due to injuries and health and safety protocols.

“We believe that the addition of Kyrie will not only make us a better team but allow us to more optimally balance the physical demand on the entire roster. We look forward to Kyrie’s return to the lineup, as well as getting our entire roster back together on the court.”

Nets head coach Steve Nash said Irving has been maintaining his conditioning with at-home and remote-gym workouts, which means the All-Star guard could return for the Nets’ Christmas Day game against LeBron James and the Lakers in Los Angeles.

But, as the age-old question goes, at what cost?

Irving’s decision not to get vaccinated renders his immune system more susceptible to complications from COVID-19, and his return coincides with a significant spike in the number of players entering the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocol. He is among just 3% of NBA players who are playing basketball without having taken a COVID-19 vaccine. Of the remaining 97%, many have moved on to their first and second booster shots.

And in a 97% vaccinated NBA, the tally of positive COVID-19 cases outnumbers the games being played on a given night. Which makes Irving’s return reek of negligence from an organization both whose owner and general manager staunchly opposed the idea of a part-time player at the beginning of the season.

Irving, of course, simply could have gotten vaccinated over the summer. He cited non-religious, moral reasons for not wanting to get vaccinated and has been ineligible to play at Barclays Center due to New York City’s indoor vaccine mandate. Had Irving complied with the city’s vaccine mandate, minutes would have been less of a concern for both Kevin Durant and James Harden, who have played heavier loads without Irving available to stagger rotations. Durant currently ranks top five in minutes played and has played in all but one Nets game this season.

Harden was similarly overloaded before he and six other Nets (including LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, Bruce Brown, DeAndre’ Bembry, James Johnson and Jevon Carter) each entered the health and safety protocol in the hours leading up to Brooklyn’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.

Durant played 41 minutes and scored 51 points in last Sunday’s matchup against the Pistons that Harden rested; 48 of a possible 53 minutes in the Nets’ eight-player OT win against the Raptors; then 39 minutes in Brooklyn’s nine-player win over the 76ers on Thursday.

Irving’s return could alleviate much of the burden placed on Durant’s shoulders, at least on the road. He is a leading MVP candidate because he has been special enough to carry the Nets despite substandard performances from Harden and a no-show from Irving.

But what happens if Irving contracts COVID-19? And is the risk of a health complication due to a positive result worth taking? Or is that the risk you take instead of jeopardizing Durant’s legs for the championship run?

The Nets have been playing without Irving all along. Without him, they have become one of the league’s best defensive teams and the best team in the NBA at defending the three-point line. The Nets have taken firm hold of the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Those are all games without Irving, a handful without Joe Harris (ankle surgery) and now several straight with half the roster in COVID protocols — though Brooklyn has proven incapable of defeating their fellow championship contenders.

The fear now becomes Irving’s name added to the lengthy list of players league-wide who have tested positive for COVID-19, many of whom contracted the virus from their opponents in a game. As an unvaccinated player, Irving’s life is on the line when he steps onto the basketball court.

That’s why this year’s Christmas gift — while glittery, shiny and dusted in championship gold — doesn’t smell right. Then again, does anyone ever question how the presents got under the tree?