Getty Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets
It is possible that, soon, there will be a resolution to the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving problem. Not because of anything that the team or the NBA is doing, but because of the arrival of a new mayor in New York City. Eric Adams won the job in the city’s election on Tuesday, and there are indications that he will lift the COVID-19 mandate that has prevented Irving from playing this year when he takes office on January 1.
Coach Steve Nash, speaking before Wednesday’s win over the Hawks, said that if Adams does lift the mandate, the team would have no problem bringing Irving back as soon as possible.
“I might be speaking out of turn,” Nash said, “but I think if the mandate changes, he would be welcome back, for sure.”
Back on media day in late September, Irving refused to answer questions about his vaccination status. But he never joined the team in its facilities and has been away from the Nets since. Still, there have been indications, even before Nash spoke, that the Nets would be willing to take Irving back in as soon as he was ready to play.
Steve Nash on the status of Kyrie Irving if mayor-elect Eric Adams lifts the New York City vaccine mandate:
“If the mandate changes, he’d be welcome back for sure”
Joe Tsai: ‘I Have All the Patience!’ With Kyrie
The Nets did have the option of allowing Irving to practice outside the city and join the team for road games. But once it was clear that he would not be able to play in Brooklyn as long as the mandate was in place, the organization made the decision to keep him away from the team until he was able to join full-time.
Nets owner Joe Tsai told ESPN last month, in explaining the Nets’ decision, “Obviously Kyrie has his own belief so I respect that. But we have to make a team decision. This is not a decision about him. This is a decision about where we go as a team. And it is just not tenable for us to have a team with a player that comes in and out, no home games, only away games. What do you do in practice then?”
Tsai told NetsDaily last week that there is not animosity or impatience between the team and Irving, despite the Nets’ championship aspirations being hobbled by the absence of one member of its Big Three.
“I have all the patience!” the site reported Tsai saying. “He’s on the team right? He’s on the roster. He’s just not on the court. You’re in an environment where this is a team sport You have to have patience with all sorts of things. He’s an elite player. We all know that. If he gets vaccinated, we’ll welcome him back on the team, but if he’s not vaccinated, we’ve made a decision that it would be too disruptive for him to come in and out of games, play only away games. So that was never going to fly. It’s that simple.”
Lest we forget why Irving is worth some patience, he averaged 26.9 points, 6.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds last season.
Kyrie Sees Vaccine Mission as ‘Voice for the Voiceless’
Former mayor Bill de Blasio put a vaccine mandate into effect in August in response to the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The mandate says that anyone participating in indoor activities at New York’s dining, fitness or entertainment facilities must show proof of at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot.
Irving, apparently, is opposed to the kinds of mandates that New York City put out. Irving often adds bigger-picture context to his more controversial actions—some call him an activist, others call it delusions of grandeur—and that was the tack he and those around him took on the mandate stance.
That was the gist of an article in The Athletic last month, in which Shams Charania reported: “To him, this is about a grander fight than the one on the court and Irving is challenging a perceived control of society and people’s livelihood, according to sources with knowledge of Irving’s mindset. It is a decision that he believes he is capable to make given his current life dynamics. ‘Kyrie wants to be a voice for the voiceless,’ one source said.”
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Nets Would ‘Welcome’ Kyrie Irving Back if Vaccine Mandate Lifted