“It is just not tenable for us to have a team with a player that comes in and out” – Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai on the Kyrie Irving situation

The Brooklyn Nets have been alternating wins and losses in each of their last six games in the 2021-22 NBA season without Kyrie Irving. Kevin Durant went on record to say that the Nets needed and will need Irving, which only emphasized the magnitude of the All-Star guard’s absence. However, there’s no telling yet if the team will get him back to play this season.

Joe Tsai, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets, was recently interviewed by Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN regarding his stance on Kyrie Irving. Tsai reiterated his position that they will not accommodate Irving as a part-time player based on this report.

Here’s how Joe Tsai stressed his viewpoint regarding the sidelining of Kyrie Irving:

“Obviously Kyrie Irving has his own belief so I respect him that. But we have to make a team decision. This is not about him. This is a decision about where we go as a team. And it is not just tenable for us to have a team with a player that comes in and out, no home games, only away games. What do you do in practice then?”

He added that the decision was basically unanimous among the concerned people who had to come up with a solution to the Kyrie Irving situation.

“This week we have a whole stretch of six home games, so we won’t have Kyrie. So it became pretty clear to us. We are very much aligned among myself, [GM] Sean [Marks], coaching staff that this has to be [the decision], especially since we’re a team with pretty lofty aspirations. We don’t see any other way of running this team.”

Unless New York City changes its health and safety protocols mandate, which does not seem to be the case any time soon, the Brooklyn Nets will have to go on battling into the season without the talented point guard.

Based on Joe Tsai’s words, will the Brooklyn Nets eventually trade Kyrie Irving?

The owner of the Brooklyn Nets would not explicitly say that they would trade the former Duke University star, but Tsai’s words are quite telling. Brooklyn’s “lofty aspirations” will not be served if Irving continues to sit while getting paid. It won’t be a surprise then if the team just sucks it up and gets something out of a trade.

However, Tsai is dancing with his words when it comes to Kyrie Irving. He has mentioned previously that he still sees the 29-year old as part of the future, but the latter has not been given a supposedly guaranteed extension.

The fact that his options are very limited with Irving sitting out might force him to pull the trigger and maximize the window of a potential championship with Kevin Durant and James Harden.

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Only time will tell how the Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving drama will unfold.