Kevin Durant: 'I'm Envisioning Kyrie Being a Part of Our Team' Despite Uncertainty Over Status

As the Nets deal with the possibility of playing without All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving for home games in 2021–22, forward Kevin Durant said Wednesday he has not given Irving advice on COVID-19 vaccination.

The two-time Finals MVP said he wants Irving to be with the team—and that he's "envisioning" it happening, despite Irving's refusal to get vaccinated.

"It's hard to do what he [Kyrie Irving] does," Durant said. "I'm envisioning Kyrie being a part of our team. 

"Maybe I'm just naive, maybe; but that's just how I feel. But I think everybody here has that confidence in themselves and our group that if we keep building we can do something special."

Reports Tuesday suggested the Nets' hopes of Irving getting the vaccine were "waning," per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Brooklyn has prepared itself for Irving to miss home games and practices for the foreseeable future, in accordance with local regulations.  

Irving did not explicitly state whether he planned to get vaccinated before the start of the season during Brooklyn's media day last week.

“I like to keep that stuff private,” Irving said. “I’m a human being first. Obviously living in this public sphere, there’s a lot of questions about what’s going on in the world of Kyrie, and I think I would love to keep that private and handle it the right way with my team and go forward together with a plan."

The NBA announced last week that players who are unable to play because of a failure to comply with local vaccination requirements would not get paid for the games they missed due to the lack of vaccination. Since then, the league's policy changed the mindset of Warriors' Andrew Wiggins to get vaccinated.