Some good news for the Brooklyn Nets and their beleaguered guard Kyrie Irving. With NYC Mayor-elect Eric Adams set to take office next year, Adams made an appearance on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' to talk about some of the things he will address once he’s sworn in, including readdressing the cities vaccine mandate.
“We need to revisit how we are going to address the vaccine mandates,” Mayor-elect Eric Adams said. “Now, I stated I did not want to Monday-morning-quarterback the mayor [Bill de Blasio]. This is his time to be the man, he has to make the decisions.”
This wouldn’t necessarily apply to Irving’s situation, but if employees were not required to be vaccinated, it would make it hard for the city government to enforce any type of vaccine mandate if many city employees are unvaccinated.
Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai said in the midst of the Irving drama that he hopes the guard gets vaccinated ‘as soon as possible' to be in compliance with the cities mandate. Head coach Steve Nash believes if the newly elected mayor were to change the mandate, they would gladly welcome Irving back on the team.
“I might be speaking out of turn, but I think if the mandate changes, he’d be welcome back for sure,” Nash said in a press conference Wednesday evening.
Remember that Nash was the one who originally talked about Irving coming off the bench before the organization completely shut down the guard. While Nash seems very eager to get his all-star point guard back, Tsai and GM Sean Marks will have the final say if Mayor-elect Adams does change the vaccine mandate.
There is currently no vaccine mandate in the NBA because the players’ union was able to fight against it. I would be very surprised if the Nets were to bring Irving back into the fold, unvaccinated—which would cause even more of a stir.
While Adams said he would address the vaccine mandates, laws are not always logical. Adams could address the mandate, but that doesn’t mean he will change the rules pertaining to the Barclays Center’s requirements.
With Adam's comments on the NYC vaccine mandates, there is some reason to suspect a door being open for Irving to return to the court. Irving has voiced some openness to getting the vaccine, but the longer he waits, the further he will push back his return.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram