Ever since the 2021-22 NBA season began, Kyrie Irving has not been allowed to play in home games for his home team, the Brooklyn Nets. This is due to the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams issuing a vaccine mandate, which means all athletes must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to play sporting events in New York City.
For Irving, his choice is to remain unvaccinated and he sees no reason to budge on his personal beliefs.
This means Irving has only been allowed to play in 14 out of a possible 57 games the Nets have played this season.
Obviously, his absence has had a negative impact on the team and their placement in the Eastern Conference standings, where the Nets currently land in eighth place. Good enough for a playoff spot, or more accurately a spot in the play-in tournament, but not exactly where anyone envisioned the team would be with three superstars on the roster with Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden.
Although now Harden is gone, the arrival of Ben Simmons keeps the Nets as a legitimate title contender, on paper. Now it’s about seeing how quickly this roster can mesh, but if the Nets can get Irving on the home court, their chances to win improve dramatically. Especially in a five-or-seven game playoff series.
Needless to say, it’s important for the Nets to get one of their best players back on the floor for good.
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Adam Silver has Kyrie Irving’s back on vax status
Early Wednesday morning NBA commissioner Adam Silver had an appearance on ESPN in which he threw support in Kyrie Irving’s corner.
Silver went on to note how odd the NYC vaccine mandate is and that he could see a scenario where the mayor changes the rule, allowing home players to play in home stadiums as opposed to only being available on the road.
As Silver points out, the mandate makes zero sense. As he mentions, the rule isn’t about protection for fans in the stadium or for the players, so what is it really accomplishing?
For the record, Silver still states he thinks people should be vaccinated and boosted. But he sees no need for a mandatory vaccination requirement, which based on how the NBA’s operated with zero COVID outbreaks as of late, seems to add up.
We’ll see what happens in short order, but for the first time, the NBA appears to be siding with Kyrie Irving. For the Nets, it could just be the factor that helps turn their season around.