Kyrie Irving sits on campaign Zoom call with Cynthia Nixon as Nets play without him
Kyrie Irving hasn’t been playing for the Brooklyn Nets over the past week. It now turns out he may not be watching them either.
Irving, who hasn’t appeared in a game for the Nets since Jan. 5 due to “personal reasons” spent part of his Tuesday night on a Zoom call with volunteers and supporters for the campaign of Manhattan district attorney candidate Tahanie Aboushi, according to a screengrab tweeted out by the candidate.
At the same time, Irving’s team was playing the Denver Nuggets.
Here’s what Kyrie Irving is up to now
Also on the call was former New York gubernatorial candidate and actress Cynthia Nixon. Irving was apparently on the call as “Kai Irving.”
OMG. Kyrie Irving spotted on Zoom event tonight with Cynthia Nixon and progressive justice reform District Attorney candidate @TahanieNYC. https://t.co/tpvCPzxqO8 pic.twitter.com/HmQUfhGCD3
— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) January 13, 2021
The Zoom call is the latest chapter in Irving’s impromptu sabbatical from the team, which began last week when Irving declined to play without explaining why to head coach Steve Nash. The game took place just one day after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol and two days after Wisconsin prosecutors declined to press charges against the officer who shot Jacob Blake.
In the wake of Blake’s shooting, Irving had previously lobbied against the NBA restart in Orlando while citing the fight against systemic racism. Reports later emerged that Irving was “upset” about the Capitol riot as he continued to miss games.
The story took a contentious turn on Tuesday, however, as video emerged of a maskless Irving attending a family member’s birthday party. Per Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill, the NBA has launched an investigation into the video, which could lead to a mandated isolation and loss of $410,000 per game if Irving is determined to have violated health and safety rules.
At the very least, Irving is reportedly expected to miss at least two more games for the Nets, but even Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks isn’t picking a specific date for his return.
More from Yahoo Sports: