Kevin Durant - Kyrie Irving 'frustrated' he can't play at home but Brooklyn Nets' title window open beyond this season

NEW YORK — Kevin Durant says Kyrie Irving is «frustrated» that he still cannot play Nets home games because of New York City's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, but also thinks Brooklyn's championship window extends beyond this season regardless of when his star teammate returns on a fulltime basis.

«He's frustrated in not being able to play,» Durant said after Monday's shootaround. «He figured this stuff would be rolled back by now, we'd be way past this. But it's the situation we're in, we got to deal with it, he's got to deal with it. Trusting that it'll get figured out there soon. I have no clue what may happen, but I'm just trusting that things will work itself out. But I'm sure he misses playing in front of a home crowd and the home crowd, vice versa, they miss him. So hopefully we get it figured out soon.»

Durant called out New York City Mayor Eric Adams by name after a March 13 win over the New York Knicks, on the same day Irving, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, sat courtside at Barclays Center, but could not play in the game because of the city's mandate. Durant acknowledged what many in the Nets organization have known for months, and that Irving himself has made clear since returning as a part-time player on Jan. 5 — he will not be getting the shot.

«I mean, what is it, April almost?» Durant said. «It's pretty obvious that he's not going to take the shot. So like I said, just focus on who you are and what you bring to the team every day and once that situation gets figured out, then it will. It's out of my control, it's out of everybody else's control. So you can't force anybody to do anything. So just try to just focus on me.»

Durant explained why he felt so many people inside the building have stayed behind