New York, New York – Kevin Durant is confident a resolution can be found amid his teammate Kyrie Irving's decision to not be vaccinated against Covid-19, which is preventing him practicing or playing with the Brooklyn Nets.

Everyone is buzzing about Kyrie Iriving's apparent refusal to get vaccinated, and now his teammate has spoken out.

New York City has a mandate in place, which states NBA players must have had a jab to protect against coronavirus.

Irving stated this week he is neither pro nor anti-vaccination and has respect for both sides of the argument, but he apparently has still not had at least one shot, which is the minimum required for him to play home games at the Barclays Center and in Madison Square Garden where the New York Knicks play.

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The Nets decided on Tuesday that Irving will have no involvement with the team until he complies with the rules.

Durant – who joined alongside his teammate as a free agent in 2019 – is optimistic a resolution will be found.

Speaking on Thursday after the Nets completed their pre-season duties with a 107-101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Durant said: "I definitely want Kyrie to be around.

"I wish none of this stuff would happen, but this is the situation that we are in. Kyrie made his decision on what he wanted to do and he chose to do what he wanted to do, and the team did the same."

He added: "It's on me to just focus on me, and do my job, and let those two parties handle that situation. I want our whole team together, and I want us to be at full strength, but sometimes it don't work out that way. But I am still positive that things will work out the best for both parties."

Durant is not upset over Irving's stance, though he acknowledged the situation is not ideal for a star-studded Nets team with championship aspirations.

"We still get to do [what] we love to do every day. This is not the ideal situation coming into the season but some of this, it's out of our control," he added.

Durant continued that being upset with Irving would not help the situation, which is the stance many fans and stars have taken in negatively speaking out about Irving's decision online.

"We are not going to change his mind, know what I'm saying? We'll let him figure out what he needs to do and the team figure out what they need to do," he said. "I can't be too mad at somebody making a decision for themselves."

Irving appeared in an Instagram Live on Wednesday and spoke about his decision.

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"I chose to be unvaccinated, and that was my choice, and I would ask you all to just respect that choice," Irving told his followers.

As of now, Irving will reportedly only lose the money he was due to play in home games, even though he is sitting out for both home and away games for now. According to team leaders, his partial absence was proving disruptive to the team.

It is a big chunk of change: If Irving misses every game in Brooklyn this season, he could miss out on over $17 million. Some say the amount could be much greater.