Just after being welcomed back, Nets star Irving said to test positive for COVID; jury-rigged roster plays home game to less-then-full house

Yes, things change--and change again.

The Brooklyn Nets' justification for refusing to let unvaccinated star Kyrie Irving be a part-time player for (most) road games was the effect on team continuity, so their new justification, given a roster devastated by COVID-related absences (both positive and inconclusive tests), was that, sure, he can return, because continuity is gone.

That, of course, ignores the additional risk both faced and posed by an unvaccinated player, despite the safeguards of regular testing.

And--oops--yesterday Irving joined fellow star Kevin Durant in the league's health and safety protocols, with five consecutive days of negative tests required for him to rejoin the team.

Did he have a positive test, or an inconclusive one? Well, NetsDaily said positive. No wonder the tabloid back pages were scornful, and the Daily News referred to last night's home loss to Orlando, with most original team members out, as a "create-a-player roster."

Indeed, COVID is cresting in the league.

NBA Players Entering Protocols Since Opening Night
(10-Day Moving Average) pic.twitter.com/hA4YawqQVt

— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) December 17, 2021

What's political?

As quoted yesterday, Nets owner Joe Tsai told the New York Post, “We’re trying to be practical. And I’ve always said I don’t want to make this a political issue. My only religion is to win games and win the championship. That’s where we are.”

It's a business, of course.

But Tsai is political when it is required for business reasons, such as his unquestioning support for the regime in China, where his company Alibaba has prospered, and his disparagement of dissent in China and Hong Kong.

In Brooklyn, he's political too, with the Tsai Foundation's Social Justice Fund and its $50 million, ten-year commitment to "fight for Racial Justice and plan for the economic recovery of the Borough in the post-Covid era." 

And that includes such ambiguous efforts as the neon art installation that also can be seen as advertising.

Lowered attendance

Given COVID concerns, and the absence of stars, the arena looked pretty empty last night, at least at the start of the game, and the announced 16,292 attendance (91.9% of capacity) was surely not reached. That said, gate count never matches tickets distributed.

Well if paid (or distributed) includes the 3000 tickets that were supposed to be given away to city employees

— Norman Oder (@AYReport) December 19, 2021