Thread by @Ike_Saul

1/ I'm an *actual* lifelong Nets fan (born in New Jersey, now living in Brooklyn). And a politics reporter. And a huge @KyrieIrving fan and defender. And someone who has played team sports my whole life.

This news is crushing. And I really hope Kyrie changes course.

@KyrieIrving 2/ Of course getting the vaccine is ultimately Kyrie's choice. I would never suggest otherwise. It's his body, his health decision, etc. But you cannot pretend like this decision stops there -- you have a whole team, fan base, organization, etc. that bet on him when others didn't

3/ All the crap about Kyrie being a "me-first" dude looks a lot more believable when he won't get a vaccine nearly every other player in the league is getting without one single report of an adverse impact...

4/ Every player on every team makes all sorts of sacrifices, physical, emotional, mental, etc. to buy into a championship. Kyrie himself has taken all sorts of vaccines just to get through college sports. KD just rehabbed an Achilles injury for 2 years. Guys are taking pay cuts.

5/ It's a fundamental part of being on a team. It's not just some random dude deciding he's going to not get vaccinated. It's a player who made a commitment to 15 other people -- and a whole organization -- that he would buy in. More than anything he's breaking that commitment.

6/ I get not wanting the vax. Truly. New stuff is scary, there's a lot of heterodox thinkers out there who can deliver a compelling sermon about staying away from it. But Kyrie is surrounded by medical professionals who can give him an honest risk assessment. He knows.

7/ There is no way he doesn't understand the risks. It's 100% certain they've been explained to him over and over. Risk of adverse impact vs. serious Covid-19 case, for example. He is just making a decision that he'd rather dig his heels in than get a shot that's 99.999999% safe.

8/ So it sucks. I love Kyrie. Maybe my favorite player in all of the NBA to watch. I love the Nets. They have a 1-3 year window to win a title for Brooklyn/NJ. And it's slipping away because a player is reneging on the buy-in everyone around him is committing to.

END/ Maybe as Covid-19 continues to recede (which it is now) the rules in NY change. That'd be a blessing and an out for Kyrie, the fans and the organization. But if you're on Irving's team the message just came in loud and clear.