Nets' Kyrie Irving says he's 'grateful' that NYC mayor Eric Adams is 'on my side' in vaccine mandate situation

 

Kyrie Irving returned to Boston on Sunday, putting up 19 points and six assists in the Nets' loss to the Celtics. The constant boos he received from the crowd, which he compared to a "scorned girlfriend," were the main headline, but Irving also commented on his playing status and New York City mayor Eric Adams. 

Late in February, Adams announced a plan to lift the city's public sector mask and vaccine mandates on March 7. While many believed that was the news the Nets and Irving were waiting for, he is still not eligible to play until he gets vaccinated. New York City has private sector mandates which remain in place and prevent Irving from suiting up for "work" inside Barclays Center.

Despite the bit of false hope, Irving praised Adams on Sunday in his post-game press conference, saying he hopes to sit down with him some day. 

"Shoutout Eric Adams, man," Irving said. "It's not an easy job to be the mayor of New York City. And with COVID looming, the vaccination mandates, everything going on in our world, with this war in the Ukraine, and everybody feeling it across America, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now trying to delegate whether or not one basketball player can come and play at home. I appreciate his comments and his stance. He knows where I stand.

"And I know one day we'll be able to break bread together and he'll be able to come to the games and hopefully we'll move past this time like it never happened in our sense," Irving continued. "But, it's just the reality that it's been difficult on a lot of us in New York City and across the world. So, I know he's feeling it and I'm just grateful that he's on my side, as well as the commissioner [of the NBA]."

During a press conference in late February, Adams was asked directly about Irving's situation and said that while he "would do anything to get that ring," he cannot change the rules for one person because that would "send the wrong message."

Adams said because of mandates, his hands are tied.

"Businesses have their vaccine mandate," Adams continued. "City employees have their vaccine mandates. I have to follow the rules. And trust me, I want Kyrie on the court. We are here right now opening our city because of vaccine mandates."

The private sector mandates could be lifted in the near future as well, but as of now there is no timeline for that happening. That's bad news for the Nets, who continue to sink in the Eastern Conference standings and are running out of time to get things together. 

Kevin Durant is now back from his knee injury, but with Irving still sidelined at home and Ben Simmons out indefinitely, the Nets are a shell of the team everyone was expecting to see this season. The defeat in Boston extended their losing streak to four games, and they are now under .500 at 32-33. 

Currently in a three-way tie for eighth place in the East, they are closer to missing the playoffs entirely than they are to getting a top-six seed. They are 5.5 games behind the sixth-place Cavaliers, and just two games ahead of the 11th-place Wizards. It's hard to fathom that they would miss the playoffs entirely, but barring some dramatic turnaround it appears they'll be heading to the play-in tournament. And if that game(s) end up being at home, Irving might be sitting on the sideline while their playoff fate is determined.