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Kyrie Irving Says He ‘Understood’ And ‘Respected’ Team’s Decision To Keep Him From Playing Over Unvaxxed Status

(Photo credit: Twitter/Screenshot/Public-User: Brooklyn Nets Videos)

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
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Kyrie Irving said he “understood” and “respected” the Brooklyn Nets decision to keep him from playing with the team since October over his unvaccinated status.

“I understood their decision [to sideline me] and I respected it,” Irving shared during a press conference Wednesday morning, the New York Post reported.

“I really had to sit back and think, and try not to become too emotionally attached to what they were deciding to do,” he added. “I had to sit down and really evaluate things and see it from their perspective, meaning the organization and my teammates.” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)

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“I knew the consequences,” the Brooklyn player continued. “I wasn’t prepared for them, by no stretch of the imagination. Coming into the season, I had my thought process of being able to be a full-time teammate and just go out and have fun and provide a great brand of basketball out there. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen like that. Things happen for a reason, and now we’re here and I’m just grateful for this.” (RELATED: Kevin Durant Reveals He’ll Wear Number 7 For The Brooklyn Nets)

At one point, the Nets player talked about how much he missed the game, New York Post reporter Brian Lewis tweeted.

“Last night I could barely sleep,” Irving shared. “I’m like, man, I just don’t want to come out and not be who I know I am as a player…[My] heart racing and just not being nervous and touching the basketball again, and just the rhythm of the game. I missed it.”

The Nets were recently hit with several COVID-19 positive cases and made the choice to bring back Irving because the team was short on players, People magazine noted. Despite getting to play away games with the team, he will still not be allowed to participate in any home games at Barclays Center, due to the city’s COVID-19 mandate.

Irving previously commented on being suspended from the team over his vaccine stance and said he wasn’t getting vaccinated in protest of people losing their jobs due to the vaccine mandates, The Hill noted.