Anguished Father Says 10-Year-Old Was ‘Always Smiling’

Jailah Silguero, 10, was the youngest of four children, the “baby” of her family, her father said. She loved going to school and seeing her friends. On Tuesday, she was among those killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Jailah had told her father, Jacob Silguero, 35, on Monday night that she wanted to stay home on Tuesday. It was uncharacteristic of her, and by morning, Mr. Silguero said, she seemed to have forgotten about it. She got dressed and went to school as usual.

“I can’t believe this happened to my daughter, my baby,” he said.

He added, “It’s always been a fear of mine to lose a kid.”

Mr. Silguero and the family were getting ready to go to the funeral home on Wednesday after having spent hours at the SSGT Willie de Leon Civic Center the day before waiting for information about Jailah. Officials asked the family to give a DNA sample using a swab.

“I figured after the DNA swab test, it was something bad,” he said. “About an hour later, they called to confirm that she had passed.”

Jailah’s siblings are taking it hard, Mr. Silguero said: “They just want their sister back.”

Jailah Silguero was among 21 people — 19 children and two adults — killed in the massacre on Tuesday.

Jackie Cazares and Annabelle Rodriguez were cousins in the same classroom at Robb Elementary School. Jackie, who had her first communion two weeks ago, was the social one, said Polly Flores, who was Jackie’s aunt and Annabelle’s great-aunt. “She was outgoing; she always had to be the center of attention,” Ms. Flores said. “She was my little diva.”

Annabelle, an honor roll student, was quieter. But she and her cousin were close, so close that Annabelle’s twin sister, who was home-schooled, “was always jealous,” Ms. Flores said. “We are a very tight family,” she said. “It’s just devastating.”

Amerie Jo Garza was a friendly 10-year-old who loved Play-Doh.

Amerie Jo was “full of life, a jokester, always smiling,” her father, Alfred Garza III, said in a brief phone interview. She didn’t talk a lot about school but liked spending time with her friends at lunch, in the playground and during recess. “She was very social,” he said. “She talked to everybody.”

Amerie Jo’s extended family had gathered in the room when the Texas Rangers broke the horrible news late Tuesday.

The family’s loss came after losing several loved ones to Covid-19 over the last two years.

“We were finally getting a break, nobody was passing away,” Mr. Garza said. “Then this happened.”

Mr. Garza, who works at a used car dealership in Uvalde, said that he was on a lunch break when Amerie Jo’s mother told him that she couldn’t get their daughter out of the school because it was on lockdown.

“I just went straight over there and found the chaos,” he said. He recalled seeing cars backing up on the streets, with parents trying to enter the school to find their children. Police cars were everywhere.

At first, he said, he didn’t think that anyone had been hurt. Then he heard that children had died. For hours, he awaited word about his daughter.

“I was in kind of in shock,” he said, after hearing from the Texas Rangers. When he got home, he started to go through her pictures. “That’s when I kind of had the release,” he said. “I started crying and started mourning.”

Eva Mireles, who was in her 40s, loved teaching the children at Robb Elementary School, most recently fourth grade. Neighbors described her as a good-natured person who was usually smiling.

“She brought the neighborhood together,” said Javier Garcia, 18, who lived next door. “She loved those children.”

A cousin by marriage, Joe Costilla, 40, who lives down the block, said that outside of work Ms. Mireles liked to run marathons and was very athletic. “We were always hanging together — barbecues — she was a wonderful person,” he said, holding back tears. They had planned to get together over Memorial Day weekend.

Mr. Costilla’s mother, Esperanza, rushed to his home to console her grandchildren, ages 14 and 10, who knew her well.

“They are taking it really hard,” she said. “She was the kind of teacher everybody loved.”

Jose Flores, 10, had a pink T-shirt that said: “Tough guys wear pink.” His grandfather, George Rodriguez, called him “my little Josesito” and kept a photograph of the boy in his wallet.

Mr. Rodriguez, who also lost a niece in Tuesday’s shooting, attended counseling at the civic center in Uvalde but said it had offered him little reprieve from the pain. “They were beautiful, innocent children,” he said.

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Maya Henry “Blindsided” After Liam Payne “Abruptly Ended” Relationship

Maya Henry was not prepared for the direction things went with ex Liam Payne

Though the pair called off their engagement a month ago, “Maya was blindsided by the split,” a source close to the model told E! News. “He abruptly ended it with her. She is very upset. They have definitely had their fair share of ups and downs in their relationship.”

E! News has reached out to reps for Maya and Liam.

On May 23, a fan page posted a photo of the former One Direction singer, 28, getting cozy with another woman. The fan page, believing it was Maya, 21, in the photo, tagged her. 

“I love all of the fans so much but please stop sending me these pictures of my fiancé wrapped around another woman,” she commented under the post. “This is not me and it’s hard enough knowing this has happened without seeing it. Enough now.”

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‘Grim reality’ of war’s deadly toll on civilians laid bare in Security Council — Global Issues

Updating the ambassadors on the latest UN report on protecting civilians in armed conflict, Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of the Coordination Division of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that hostilities in densely populated areas, “sharply” increased the risks of death and injury for civilians.

When explosive weapons were used in populated areas, about 90 per cent of casualties were civilians, compared to 10 per cent in other areas”.

Catalogue of destruction

War damages and erodes critical infrastructure, by disrupting vital water, sanitation, electricity and health services, and puts education at risk – depriving hundreds of thousands of children of tuition, while rendering them vulnerable to forced recruitment, and other dangers.

“In the first nine months of last year, over 900 schools in Afghanistan were destroyed, damaged or closed and their rehabilitation hindered by explosive hazards,” he stated.

Conflict also damages the natural environment not just through fighting, but due to a lack of good governance and neglect.

Forcible displacement

“We are all too familiar with the cycle of violence and displacement, and 2021 was no exception,” said Mr. Rajasingham. “By midyear, fighting and insecurity had forcibly displaced 84 million people, with close to 51 million of them internally displaced”.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported over the weekend that the Ukraine war and other conflicts have pushed the number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution, to over 100 million, for the first time on record.

When civilians flee, they often left behind people with disabilities and those who manage to leave frequently confront difficulties in accessing assistance.

Health impacts

Conflict also takes a significant toll on mental health.

“More than one in five people living in conflict-affected areas were estimated to suffer from depression, anxiety and PTSD,” said the deputy humanitarian chief.

Medical workers, facilities, equipment and transport continued to come under attack, while parties to conflict interfered with medical care.

“In northern Ethiopia, healthcare facilities, equipment and transport were attacked and looted, and hospitals used for military purposes,” he elaborated.

And the pandemic has intensified human suffering and strained weakened healthcare services.

“Nearly three billion people are still waiting for their first vaccine, many of them in conflict situations where health systems are weak and public trust is low,” Mr. Rajasingham told the Council.  

Humanitarian struggles

At the same time, parties to conflicts have heightened food insecurity by destroying supply chains, as aid workers continued to face complex challenges depriving civilians of life-saving assistance.

© UNICEF/UN0330643/Anmar

Children play in a neighbourhood ravaged by conflict in Iraq.

And as non-State armed groups further complicate humanitarian access negotiations, private military and security contractors have increasingly thrown up roadblocks for humanitarians desperately trying to deliver aid, said the deputy relief chief.

Moreover, as sanctions and broad counterterrorism measures interfere with humanitarian work, misinformation and disinformation have eroded trust – putting humanitarians at risk of harm and further jeopardizing operations.

“When humanitarian activities were politicized, community acceptance was jeopardized,” detailed the OCHA chief. “Humanitarian staff were intimidated, arrested and detained while carrying out their functions.”

Last year, some 143 security incidents against humanitarian workers were recorded in 14 countries and territories affected by conflict, along with 93 humanitarian deaths.

Of those killed, injured or kidnapped, 98 per cent were national staff.

Ukraine: Suffering and loss

Since 24 February, OHCHR has recorded 8,089 civilian casualties in Ukraine, with 3,811 killed and 4,278 injured.

Hospitals, schools, homes, and shelters have come under attack, 12 million have been forced from their homes, and tens of thousands of civilians remained trapped and cut off from food, water and electricity.

The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility,” said the Deputy Relief Coordinator.

Turning to the war’s impact on exports, he said that food, fuel and fertilizer prices have skyrocketed globally – with increases of up to 30 per cent for staple foods affecting people across Africa and the Middle East – “hitting the poorest people the hardest…and planting the seeds for further political instability and unrest worldwide.”

UNDP Ukraine/Oleksandr Ratushnia

A woman retrieves possessions from her bombed house in the village of Novoselivka, near Chernihiv, Ukraine.

Compliance

Mr. Rajasingham underscored that all States and non-State actors must comply with international humanitarian law (IHL), including by avoiding explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas.

He also upheld the need to integrate legal protections into military training, doctrine, and policy and legal frameworks.

“Parties to conflict and States must apply much greater political will and commitment to respect the rules of war,” concluded the senior UN official.

Uphold humanitarian tenets

UN Photo/Manuel Elías

Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Robert Mardini, reminded ambassadors that respect for IHL requires accountability and constructive dialogue with States and the various parties to conflict.

Humanitarian principles must never be compromised, he said.

Recalling that ICRC has been briefing the Council year after year on the plight of civilians, he argued that civilian protection should be made more of a strategic priority by States, in the planning and conduct of all military operations “in populated areas, which includes avoiding the use of heavy explosive weapons.”

‘New muscle’ needed

David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee, and a former British Foreign Secretary, stressed that early warning mechanisms must not be allowed to “gather dust.”

“We see the constraints around this Council as well as in the conflict zones where we work.  But we also look to the wider international community to break the deadlock,” he said, advocating for the General Assembly to establish independent mechanisms to gather evidence on violations of international law. 

Mr. Miliband also maintained the need for “new muscle” to prevent “the strangulation and weaponization of aid,” and more determination to uphold existing rights.

Click here to view the meeting in its entirety. 



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Polkadot parachains spike after the launch of a $250M aUSD stablecoin fund

Crypto prices have been exploring new lows for weeks and currently it’s unclear what it will take to reverse the trend. Despite the downtrend, cryptocurrencies within the Polkadot ecosystem began to rally on May 24 and have managed to maintain gains ranging from 10% to 25%, a possible sign that certain sub-sectors of the market are on the verge of a breakout.

Here’s a look at three Polkadot ecosystem protocols that have seen their token prices trend higher in recent days.

Acala launches a $250 million aUSD ecosystem fund

Acala (ACA) is the leading decentralized finance (DeF) platform on the Polkadot network, primarily due to the launch of aUSD, the first native stablecoin in the Polkadot ecosystem.

Following the collapse of Terra’s LUNA and TerraUSD (UST), traders were searching for “safer” stablecoin options.

On March 23, ACA rallied after the project announced the launch of a $250 million ‘aUSD Ecosystem Fund’ that aims to support early-stage startups planning to build strong stablecoin use cases on any Polkadot or Kusama parachain.

Acala also announced the launch of a kickoff rewards program that has set aside 1 million ACA tokens as rewards for LCDOT/DOT, LCDOT/aUSD, ACA/aUSD and aUSD/LDOT liquidity providers.

Following the aUSD ecosystem fund announcement, the price of ACA spiked 31% from a low of $0.364 on May 23 to a daily high of $0.478 on May 24.

Astar rallies after revealing a partnership with Microsoft

The Astar (ASTR) network is a smart contract hub for the Polkadot community that supports Ethereum (ETH), WebAssembly and other layer-two solutions like ZK-rollups.

Since the Polkadot relay chain doesn’t offer Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) support, Astar was created to become a multi-chain smart contract platform capable of supporting multiple blockchains and virtual machines so that they can integrate with the Polkadot ecosystem.

On May 24 it was revealed that AstridDAO, an Astar-based protocol responsible for minting the collateralized BAI stablecoin, had signed a partnership with Microsoft to become part of Microsoft for Startups, an initiative “which removes traditional barriers to building a company with exclusive access to technology, coaching, marketing, and support.”

If successful, the partnership should accelerate AstridDAO’s go-to-market speed and maximize its market influence. It also includes up to $350,000 worth of benefits through Github Enterprise, Microsoft Teams, and Azure credits.

Following the partnership announcement, the price of ASTR spiked 61% from $0.055 to a daily high of $0.0888.

Related: Polkadot vs. Ethereum: Two equal chances to dominate the Web3 world

Uniswap v3 to deploy on Moonbeam

Moonbeam (GLMR) is an Ethereum-compatible smart contract parachain on Polkadot that streamlines the use of Ethereum developer tools to build or redeploy Solidity projects in a Substrate-based environment.

Interoperability with the Ethereum network is a highly sought-after capability since a majority of decentralized applications currently operate on Ethereum along with a majority of the value in decentralized finance.

The benefit of EVM interoperability was demonstrated with the May 24 announcement that a proposal to deploy Uniswap v3 on the Moonbeam network passed, meaning that the top decentralized exchange in the crypto ecosystem will soon be accessible to Moonbeam users.

Following the announcement, the price of GLMR climbed 29% from a low of $1.15 on May 23 to a daily high at $1.48 on May 24 as its 24-hour trading volume increased 106% to $75.3 million.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.



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Jayson Tatum ‘Felt Disrespected’ After 2021 All-NBA Snub

Jayson Tatum played at an All-Star, some may even say All-NBA level, last year when he averaged a then-career-best 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field.

Tatum was awarded an All-Star nod in the 2021 All-Star Game but was snubbed from an All-NBA selection despite putting up similar, if not better, numbers than when he was voted to the 2020 All-NBA Third-Team.

During the 2020-2021 COVID-19 shortened season, Tatum scored 30+ points 16 separate times, 40+ twice, 50+ twice, and scored a career-high 60 points against the Spurs in early April. Not getting voted as a top 15 player in the League by basketball writers left Tatum feeling “kind of disrespected.”

“Do I think I was one of the best 15 players last year? A thousand percent.”

This last season, Tatum was vindicated with his third straight All-Star game selection and was voted to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career after leading the League for the first time in his career. He also finished the 2021-22 season, averaging 26.9 points, 8.0 boards, and 4.3 dimes per game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field, including 35.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc, in 76 appearances.

Tatum scored 30+ points 24 times and scored 40+ points three times and 50+ twice, including a season-high 54 against the Nets in March. Tatum has led the Celtics to a 49-27 season, good for second in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Celtics and Miami Heat are currently in a dogfight in the Eastern Conference Finals, tied 2-2 as the series shifts back to Miami for Wednesday’s Game 5 in FTX Arena.



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Cultural destruction in Ukraine by Russian forces will reverberate for years, UN rights expert warns — Global Issues

“As in other conflicts, we currently witness the unfolding of suffering in Ukraine that does not seem to end and we cannot stop,” said Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur on cultural rights.

“The questioning and denial of the Ukrainian identity and history as a justification for war, is a violation of the Ukrainians’ right to self-determination and their cultural rights.

“Self-identification is the paramount expression of these rights and all discussions, by States and in social media, should respect this.”

She said that the considerable loss of cultural heritage already, and destruction of cultural artefacts, was worrying for the identity of both Ukrainians and minorities within the country, and would impact the return to a peaceful multicultural society after the end of the war.

Museums under fire

Ms. Xanthaki expressed her concern at damage inflicted by Russian forces on city centres, cultural sites and monuments and museums, housing important collections.

“These are all part of the identity of people in Ukraine; their loss will have a lasting effect,” the expert said. She shared UN cultural agency UNESCO’s concern that there is an existential threat to Ukraine’s entire cultural life.

The expert said the cultural rights of all individuals – Ukrainians, Russians and other members of minorities living within Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and elsewhere – must be fully respected and protected.

“As the battles rage on, we are not completely powerless,” she said. “Beyond recalling that the rules of international humanitarian and human rights law should be scrupulously applied by all parties to the conflict, we must ensure that culture helps us maintain our dignity and is not used as a means to pursue and fuel the war

“We often do not measure how devastating violations of cultural rights can be for peace”, she continued.

“Attempts against academic and artistic freedoms, linguistic rights, falsification and distortion of historical facts, denigration of identities and denial of the right to self-determination, result in further degeneration and fueling of open conflict.”

The expert paid tribute to the many cultural professionals in Ukraine devoted to protecting the country’s heritage, who are using powerful artistic expression, against the war, and in favour of peace.

‘Regret’ over retaliation

The Special Rapporteur also expressed her regret about the indiscriminate exclusion of Russian artists from cultural events.

“I am saddened by the numerous restrictions affecting Russian artists in retaliation for the actions of the Russian Government, as well as by the deprogramming of sometimes centuries-old works of art from Russian writers or composers”.

Ms. Xanthaki cited reports of Russian musicians prevented from performing or taking part in competitions, and of Russian artists being asked to publicly take sides.

“It is especially in this situation of continuous dehumanization, that culture and cultural rights must be visible and visibly push for humanity, empathy and peaceful co-existence,” she said.

UN Special Rapporteurs are independent experts, appointed by the Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff, nor are they paid by the UN, for their work.

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49ers reporter has bizarre interaction with Javon Kinlaw

A sports reporter covering the San Francisco 49ers criticized 49ers defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, and Kinlaw replied in a heated online interview. 

Early in their career, first-round draft picks often get more attention than their late-round counterparts, and this is both good and bad. It means that successful rookie campaigns are highlighted, but it also means that those who are considered “draft busts” tend to face heavy scrutiny.

It’s much too early to call Javon Kinlaw a “bust”: the No. 14 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft made the PFWA All-Rookie in his first season, and his sophomore season was shortened in October due to a torn ACL.

Despite this, All49ers publisher Grant Cohn went ahead and hurled a multitude of insults Kinlaw’s way. According to Cohn, this is a small sample of what he’s said about Kinlaw that prompted the defensive tackle to confront him at a 49ers practice.

“Javon, what are you so upset about? Is it the fact that I said you have an 80-year-old knee…is it the fact that I said you’re unprofessional and immature? It escapes me, which of the hundred negative things I’ve said about Javon Kinlaw the last couple of years moved him to approach me in such a way.”

Apparently Kinlaw and Cohn didn’t speak at the practice, but Kinlaw approached him and stood behind him to physically intimidate him.

A few hours later, Kinlaw confronted Cohn during a video interview, telling him to stop criticizing him.

Javon Kinlaw calls out 49ers reporter for “hundreds” of criticisms

Some of what Kinlaw said to Cohn is detailed below, per AwfulAnnouncing:

“Stop talking about people like people don’t got families,” Kinlaw said. “Stop doing that sh**, bruh. What you get out of doing this? What satisfaction do you get out of this, man…You’re analyzing people like they’re not human, fam.

I understand that’s your job – but, bruh – you gotta start going about this thing in a different way. You talk sh*t about everybody on this team, bruh. Nobody f**** with that. Nobody f**** with you, bruh. You don’t even understand that. Nobody f**** with you, brother. You need to go find a new job.”

To Kinlaw’s point about other players disliking Cohn, fellow San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Arik Armstead agreed with Kinlaw, sharing a video of Cohn and calling him a “low life.” Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and others apparently criticized Cohn as well.

In the video, Cohn said that, “if [Kinlaw] would have touched me, if he would have pushed me, I could have retired today.” Cohn said he was thinking, “‘Oh damn, I’m about to retire. I’m about to be out of the game. I’m about to be a multi-millionaire.’”

Although Cohn repeatedly took opportunity to antagonize Kinlaw and escalate the situation to promote his content, Kinlaw’s response may not go over well with the 49ers camp.



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UNICEF urges leaders to keep schools safe following deadly Texas shooting — Global Issues

At least 19 children and two teachers were killed on Tuesday when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos opened fire at Robb Elementary School in the small city of Uvalde, Texas, located near the border with Mexico. 

How many more? 

Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s Executive Director, said there have already been “horrific attacks” this year on schools in Afghanistan, Ukraine, the US, West Africa and beyond. 

“Tragedy after tragedy, shooting after shooting, young life after young life: how many more children will die before government leaders act to keep children and their schools safe? Because until they do, these horrors will continue,” she said in a statement. 

Ms. Russell emphasized that outside of their homes, school is the one place where children should feel safest. 

She noted that in addition to the lives lost, “many more children, teachers and school staff who witnessed the carnage will bear the emotional and psychological scars for the rest of their lives.” 

Shock and sadness 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was deeply shocked and saddened by “the heinous mass shooting”, saying it was particularly heart-wrenching that most of the victims are children.  

Mr. Guterres has extended his heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and to the entire community, his Spokesperson said in a statement issued on Tuesday. 

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed expressed her outrage in a post on Twitter. 

“When children go to school, they should only be concerned about learning,” she wrote.  “Children should not go to school fearing for their lives!” 

Ms. Mohammed said her heartfelt prayers are with the families, classmates and teachers who are mourning this “devastating loss”. 



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PlayStation VR Iron Man Bundle Is on Sale for $250

It’s been hard to find a PlayStation VR in stock in recent years, but not right now. Not only is the PSVR Iron Man VR bundle in stock, but it’s also on sale for $100 off as part of the PlayStation Days of Play sale. You can grab it now for $249.99 at Best Buy or GameStop.

PSVR Iron Man VR Bundle Deal

The bundle includes everything you need to get the most out of PSVR. Hardware-wise, it comes with the headset itself, two PlayStation Move controllers, the PlayStation camera, and a camera adaptor so you can plug it into a PS5. On the software side, you get copies of Marvel’s Iron Man VR and the PlayStation VR Demo Collection 3.

If you’re considering picking this up, though, you should give it some thought first. PSVR came out in 2016, and it definitely shows its age. It requires roughly four miles of cables, which makes it way less convenient than, say, the Meta Quest 2 (see it at Amazon), which operates completely wirelessly and only costs $50 more.

You also might be better off waiting for PSVR 2. Sony has announced the specs, and it looks pretty good, although it will still require a cable. Unfortunately, that piece of hardware still doesn’t have a release date.

On the plus side, PSVR is available now and has some really great exclusive games. Resident Evil 7 in VR is legitimately the scariest gaming experience I’ve ever encountered — it’s fantastic. Astro Bot Rescue Mission is the most charming platformer I’ve played in years. Blood & Truth is like playing through a Guy Ritchie movie. You can even play through Hitman III entirely in VR.

Top 25 PSVR Games

Anyway, if you’ve been looking for something new to add to your gaming life, you could do worse than PSVR. It offers a cool new way to play games, even if it’s not a must-buy in 2022.

Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.



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Nets and Kyrie Irving ‘Have Not Had a Conversation Yet’ On Free Agency

The Brooklyn Nets’ offseason started sooner than they expected after the Boston Celtics swept them in the first round of the playoffs. The decisive playoff failure has led to many questions about what GM Sam Marks wants to do regarding Kyrie Irving’s free agency status in 2023.

Heading into the regular season, Irving was among a minority of players unwilling to comply with vaccine mandates before the season. The unpopular decision led Marks and owner Joe Tsai to eventually decide that Irving would be barred from playing or practicing with the Nets until he was “eligible to be a full participant.”

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Irving’s decision also led the Nets’ front office to decide they didn’t want to sign Irving to an extension if Irving opted out of his current deal. A sudden reversal from his past comments that he wanted to re-sign Irving and James Harden long-term heading into the 2021-22 regular season.

“That’s something that we’ve been discussing, and we’ll continue to debrief on and discuss throughout this offseason … we haven’t had any of those discussions yet,” Marks said. “We’re looking for guys that want to come in here and be part of something bigger than themselves, play selfless, play team basketball, and be available. That goes not only for Kyrie but everybody here.”

Marks and Tsai were adamant about the issue until the NBA experienced an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. With the Nets besieged by the virus, Marks and Tsai relented and controversially decided that Irving would be allowed to play as a part-time player, making his season debut in January against the Pacers.

It wasn’t until February that Irving’s stance was vindicated when New York City mayor Eric Adams lifted city vaccine mandates, allowing unvaccinated employees of private companies to work within indoor settings.

The Nets ultimately dealt Harden to the 76ers for Ben Simmons at the deadline and ended the regular season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Nets won their play-in tournament game against the Cavaliers and earned the seventh seed, but as aforementioned, lost to the Celtics in four games.

The disappointing end to the season didn’t stop Irving from expressing his wishes to remain in Brooklyn beyond 2023. During his exit interviews, Irving told reporters he didn’t plan on going anywhere and that he wanted to be involved long-term in building the team with Marks, Tsai, and longtime friend Kevin Durant.

Since those remarks, it has been widely reported that Marks hasn’t decided on re-signing Irving to an extension should Irving opt out of the final year of his contract. On Wednesday, Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News reported that Marks and Irving haven’t met since the Nets lost Game 4 to the Nets. Marks’ reluctance is based on Irving’s vaccination status and injury history.

“I look forward to [it],” Marks told YES Network last week via the New York Post’s Brian Lewis. “We have not had a conversation yet. So I look forward to getting in a room with him and Joe and his team, and we will. We’ll see what it looks like for Kyrie moving forward here and what he needs from us and so forth.”

“So, again, it wouldn’t be right for me to comment on what hypothetical could happen because we don’t know. We haven’t had those conversations with Kyrie yet. But when they do, we’ll see if it’s the right fit for both sides.”

Winfield also reported that Marks hasn’t spoken with Durant either.

Irving has until June 29 to decide on his player option worth $36.5 million. He is eligible for up to a five-year, $248 million extension.



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