Unvaccinated Kyrie Irving makes Nets season debut on road against Pacers

Kyrie Irving made his season debut for the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers.

Irving, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, can only play in the team’s road games because a New York City mandate requires proof of vaccination to enter arenas. Initially, the Nets said they didn’t want Irving to be part-time player and that he wouldn’t play or practice until he was fully vaccinated.

But injuries and COVID-19 decimated the Nets roster, and they needed players. They made the decision to allow Irving to play part-time.

Irving, who is the first part-time player in the COVID era because he is unvaccinated, started in his first game back and heard mild boos from the Pacers crowd. Irving played five minutes, 11 seconds in his first stint. He missed his first two shots — one was blocked — and had an assist and a turnover before checking out.

With Irving, the Nets get an elite seven-time All-Star guard back in the lineup alongside Kevin Durant and James Harden for the first time since last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals. Irving is a proficient 3-point shooter, excellent shot-creator in the paint and effective mid-range scorer and makes the Nets a better team.

Irving cleared health and safety protocols last week and joined the team for practice. He said he remained in shape playing pick-up basketball.

“This has always been where I want to be,” he told reporters. “I’ve wanted to be playing with the team in whatever capacity I can do that.”

Irving last played against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4 of the 2021 conference semifinals, missing the final three games of the series with a right ankle injury.

Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said he didn’t want to push Irving’s minutes played into the high 30s and was confident in Irving’s ability to perform as the Nets look to end a three-game losing streak, dropping from first place in the Eastern Conference to second.

“He has looked capable and…