The Brooklyn Nets go into the NBA season as heavy favourites to be crowned champions but lingering doubt over Kyrie Irving still hangs over the star-studded team.
Local laws in San Francisco and New York mean that players for the Warriors, Nets and New York Knicks will have to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to play home games. And if players like Irving are unable to play at home because of their vaccination status, they will not be paid for those games, the NBA said earlier this week.
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Irving, 29, stands to lose more than $550,000 per game and could miss 41 homes games.
"Whoever owns the Brooklyn Nets, get him up out of here," NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal told the "Tiki and Tierney" show.
Irving did not attend media day in person this week and asked people to respect his privacy. Reports from the US state that several people within the Nets organisation are convinced Irving will eventually be swayed by teammates and get vaccinated.
However, O'Neal believes the Nets have enough to win without the polarising star. He said if Irving was on his team there would be only one way to deal with it.
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"I would go upstairs and say, 'Get him up out of here," Shaq said. "We can win with a two-punch and a great shooter and some rebounders like we got. Get his ass up out of here.
"Of course, if I played with him, I'd be in charge all the way, all day," Shaq added.
The league-wide vaccination rate is now around 95 per cent when counting those who are now at least in the vaccination process, said a source, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the NBA nor the National Basketball Players Association would release the figure publicly.
Based on a rough count of nearly 600 players in the league right now for training camps — that figure will be closer to 500 when the regular season begins October 19 and rosters get trimmed — the 95 per cent figure would suggest that, on average, one player per team is unvaccinated.
The NBA gave teams tentative health and safety protocols for the season this week, detailing how players who haven't gotten the COVID-19 vaccination will be tested far more often than their vaccinated colleagues and face a slew of other restrictions.
Among the rules for unvaccinated players: They will not be able to eat in the same room with vaccinated teammates or staff, must have lockers as far away from vaccinated players as possible, and must stay masked and at least 6 feet away from all other attendees in any team meeting.
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Further, unvaccinated players will be "required to remain at their residence when in their home market," teams were told in the draft of the rules, a copy of which was obtained by AP. They will also need to stay on team hotel properties when on the road. In both cases, there are limited permissible exceptions — such as going to buy groceries, taking children to school and the like.
Nearly half of the league's teams have said in recent days that they are already fully vaccinated or on the cusp of hitting that threshold. Other players, such as Golden State's Andrew Wiggins and Washington's Bradley Beal, have said they remain unvaccinated.
Phoenix's Devin Booker — who has missed the start of camp after testing positive for COVID-19 — has not disclosed his vaccination status. Neither has Irving, though not appearing in person at Nets media day in New York on would suggest that he is unvaccinated.
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