James Harden, Steve Nash say Nets moving forward without Kyrie Irving

James Harden came to Brooklyn to win a championship. Period.

The Nets' All-Star guard thought he would be doing it this season playing alongside his friend Kyrie Irving. And he still would like to. But with the Nets having been held in a strange limbo for weeks as they tried to figure out if they could accommodate Irving as a part-time player, Harden is ready to move on for now without Irving.

"Kyrie believes in his beliefs and he stands strong on that," Harden said on Wednesday. "For us, we respect it. We all love Ky. But as far as us, we have a job to do.

"Individually, myself, I’m still wanting to set myself up for a championship. And I feel like the entire organization is on the same path . . . As a collective unit, we’ll keep pushing forward and we’ll try to do our best every single day to get better and keep going as a collective unit."

The post-Irving era officially dawned at the team’s training center Wednesday as the Nets held their first practice since general manager Sean Marks announced Tuesday that Irving would not practice or play with the team until he makes himself a full-time participant. Irving has not publicly revealed his vaccination status, but the team has said he is ineligible to play their 43 games in New York because of a local mandate requiring at least one vaccination.

Harden said that he, Irving, Marks, coach Steve Nash and fellow superstar Kevin Durant "all had conversations" before the decision was made. He did not share what his role or opinion in those conversations was but said it was time for the team to move forward.

"I think for us, we’ve just got to focus on the guys in this locker room that’s putting in the work every single day," Harden said. "That’s all we can control. That’s all we can focus on."

Nash, who said he had a say in the decision, believes the team will benefit from a clarity standpoint of knowing who is available.

"I think for the guys not to have the uncertainty is important," he said. "It’s not going to be hanging over us. I think a decision was made and that can be beneficial to us starting to really build and have that understanding that ‘this is what’s happening’ instead of us living in a world that is very uncertain. We weren’t sure from one day to the next what was going to change, what was going to happen. That can be difficult, and that can put an extra strain on everybody."

He said Irving will be replaced in the lineup by a committee approach with the team using different lineups depending on who adjusts well and what team they are playing.

Harden believes that the Nets still have the talent and resolve to go for a championship this season, even without Irving on the court.

"Yeah, we still have two pretty good leaders on the team," Harden said. "Obviously Ky is our leader as well. But we still have obviously myself and Kevin to lead, which we’re pretty good at that. And go out there and be great every single night."

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.