Nets fined $50K for letting Kyrie Irving enter locker room

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The NBA fined the Brooklyn Nets $50,000 on Monday for letting Kyrie Irving into their locker room during a game in which he was unable to play because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Irving was a spectator at Barclays Center on Sunday, sitting across from the Nets bench for Brooklyn’s 110-107 victory over the New York Knicks. There is no longer a mandate that fans be vaccinated to enter the arena, but there is still one requiring it for someone who works there.

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So the star guard had a seat in the stands, just as he did a night earlier to watch the ACC Tournament championship game. After the Nets game ended, he walked off arm-in-arm with Durant, who had scored a season-high 53 points, toward the locker room.

Brooklyn Nets' Kyrie Irving watches the game from his seats during the second half of the NBA basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks at the Barclays Center, Sunday, Mar. 13, 2022, in New York. The Nets defeated the Knicks 110-107.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The league said in a statement Monday that the Nets violated New York City law and league health and safety protocols by permitting Irving to come into the locker room. Unlike the stands, the locker room is considered part of the team's workplace environment.

Durant spent a good chunk of his postgame interview calling on New York City Mayor Eric Adams to change the mandate, calling it "ridiculous" that unvaccinated people could be in the arena but not play in it. Coach Steve Nash acknowledged during his postgame availability that Irving had been in the locker room at halftime.

The Nets released a