I have a theory that the Brooklyn Nets are a microcosm of the United States.
If anything, Brooklyn’s young, dramatic and often troubled NBA franchise has been through the ringer in the last few years, much like the rest of the country. In three years, the Nets went from a gutted roster and low-level talent to a triumvirate of greatness with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.
And just like a group of in-laws shoved under the same roof for uncomfortable periods of time, their estranged family didn’t work out exactly how they planned it would. Irving has been barred from home games for the entire season so far because he is still unvaccinated. Durant has missed valuable time with injury, and Harden decided he wanted out and got shipped off to Philadelphia. The Barclays Center has been a hotbed of household drama.
Now the Nets find themselves with a shadow of their former roster, barely over .500, plagued still by vaccination statuses and needing Durant to produce a 53-point explosion Sunday night to top the lowly Knicks by just three points. After the game, Durant accused New York City Mayor Eric Adams of attention seeking, and, when discussing New York City’s vaccine mandates, demanded he “figure it out,” after Irving, still barred from playing, was permitted to enter the Barclay’s Center as a spectator for the first time all season.
Durant’s frustrations are valid, and while I could not disagree more with Irving’s claim that his decision to forgo vaccination was merely personal, it is absurd that Irving is permitted to enter the stadium as a spectator but cannot play.
Like many frustrated Americans, Durant just wants clarity from officials about how long COVID-19 will continue to affect his work and team. But pandemic mitigation efforts have proved problematic in recent months because of both their deployment and public reaction.
The Nets’ remaining stars, like many Americans, are likely tired of COVID-19 disrupting their daily life, but Durant’s comments shed light on what may be an even larger issue than general fatigue: inconsistency with guidelines and restrictions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, America’s first line for establishing and communicating new pandemic safety guidelines, has been anything but adept in communicating to people and administering proper and consistent COVID-19 guidelines. The Nets have seen this confusion firsthand; while Irving’s vaccination status has held him out of games, unvaccinated players on other teams have been allowed to play away games in Brooklyn all season, a policy that had even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver scratching his head.
Combine the confusion with constantly changing mask and vaccine mandates — with requirements in cities like New York City’s and Boston’s changing over the last two months — and it’s not surprising that Durant just wants someone to figure it out.
The reality is that pandemic policy was uncharted territory for everyone, including public health professionals. But two years into a COVID-19 world, experts’ messaging must be clearer — if anything, for Kevin Durant’s sake.
