Aside from the Ben Simmons trade saga in Philadelphia, nothing has consumed NBA headlines this preseason like the Kyrie Irving situation in Brooklyn.

The All-Star guard is one of the few remaining players who have refused to get the vaccine, and is the only one to do so in a market that has a vaccine mandate for going to work. As such, Irving is ineligible to play in Brooklyn’s home games and, while the city determined he could practice with the team at their “private office” of a practice facility, that meant 42 games (41 home games and one game at Madison Square Garden) where Irving wouldn’t be able to play.