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Kyrie Irving is back practicing with his teammates after the Brooklyn Nets set a new plan for the star this week.
On Wednesday (December 29), Irving returned to practice with the team after sitting out the season over Covid-19 vaccination mandates. The 29-year-old isn't vaccinated, which prohibited him from playing, per NYC guidelines for people working in the city.
Now, the Nets have apparently implemented a plan to bypass the rules to get the star back on the court.
According to The Hill, Irving might have a chance to play as early as next week and at other away games in cities that don't have vaccine mandates for workers after the Nets reinstated him. If he plays in the January 5 game, it'll be the first for Irving this season.
"Not going to lie," Kyrie told The Associated Press, "it's been relatively tough to watch from the sideline ... but if I get the opportunity to get on the court and play with some of my teammates, even if it's just on the road for away games, I'm grateful for that opportunity."
Earlier this year, fans and supporters of Kyrie's stance on the vaccine stormed Barclay's Center, calling on the team to let Irving play.
"I knew the consequences," Kyrie said of not being vaccinated.
"I wasn't prepared for them, by no stretch of the imagination coming into the season. I had my thought process on being able to be a full-time teammate and go out and have fun and provide a great brand of basketball out there. But unfortunately, it didn't happen like that. Things happen for a reason and now we're here and I'm grateful for this," he added.
Within the past few weeks, the US has broken records for daily new cases as the Omicron variant surges across the country.
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