Kyrie Irving has been limited to play just road games for the Brooklyn Nets this NBA season and has only played in a total of 14 games as a result, but recent news in regards to New York City’s vaccine mandate could allow the Nets’ All-Star to return to action full-time in the coming weeks, just in time for the start of the playoffs.
On Wednesday, New York City mayor Eric Adams told reporters that the city plans to phase out their COVID-19 vaccine mandates very soon. Not only does this affect the general public and their everyday lives, but this also has an impact on the Brooklyn Nets and their chances to win a title this season at full-strength with Kyrie Irving in the lineup at home.
“I can’t wait to get it done,” Adams said in regards to lifting the vaccine mandate. “Every morning I meet with my health professionals because I’ve always stated I’m going to follow the science. … They gave us benchmarks. We’re going to follow those benchmarks, but I look forward in the next few weeks of going through a real transformation.
“We are going to get the city back up and operating and we are going to be rolling out some things in the next day or so on how we are going to carry that out.”
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Over the last few weeks, the vaccine mandate in New York City has been a hot topic across the nation, primarily in regards to the NBA and Kyrie Irving’s situation this season.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talked about this mandate recently and voiced his opinion on the matter, stating that he felt as if the city’s mandate “did not make sense” in the regards that home players that are unvaccinated cannot play, but away players can travel from state to state and be allowed to play.
During All-Star Weekend, the vaccine mandate in New York City remained a key question around the league and the commissioner was once again faced with these questions about if the NBA would step in and try to work on a solution to the problem at hand with the Nets.
As of right now, New York City is still moving forward with their current vaccine mandates, which do not permit Kyrie Irving to play at Barclays Center or Madison Square Garden, but he could very well return to “full-time” status within the next two or three weeks.
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Lifting this mandate is going to take some time, especially given all the politics involved in the situation, but it is feasible to believe that Kyrie Irving could begin playing home games as early as March 13 against the New York Knicks, but this is simply speculation, as the mayor has not given a clearcut timeframe on when everything will progress.
The Nets have 10 of their remaining 23 games on the road this season, all of which Irving is eligible to play in right now other than their matchup with the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on April 6.
Brooklyn could really use their All-Star guard on the floor at this point in the season, not only because they have slipped to the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference, but because they have home games coming up on their schedule against the Celtics, Raptors, Heat, Bucks and Cavaliers, all of which stand above the Nets in the conference standings right now.
The Nets have plenty of opportunities to make up lost ground this season and with Kevin Durant on the mend and Ben Simmons gearing up to play, Brooklyn could realistically have their new “Big 3” on the court by mid-March in Barclays Center.
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With all the new pieces added to their roster late in the season, the next few weeks are going to be crucial for the Nets. Not only do they need to improve their seeding ahead of the playoffs in order to go on a championship run, but they must build some kind of chemistry with one another before the start of the playoffs.
Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, Ben Simmons and Goran Dragic are all new pieces added to this roster recently and with Kevin Durant coming back soon after being out since January 15 with a sprained MCL, it will take some time for this team to gel and adjust with one another.
Getting Kyrie Irving back on the floor is essential to the Brooklyn Nets success the rest of the season and Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to change the city’s vaccine mandate is a huge step forward and a big win for the Nets as a franchise.
