The Nets and Kyrie Irving have maintained hope for some time that the unvaccinated point guard would be able to play home games this season. On Wednesday, they received the surest sign yet that hope has been justified.
Mayor Eric Adams announced he has a plan to end New York City’s vaccine mandate for indoor spaces, including arenas such as Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden. Adams said he “can’t wait” to phase out the mandate, and that changes could happen “in the next few weeks.”
The comments were Adams’ most definitive yet, though without a firm timeline and with caveats that future COVID-19 cases and advice from health experts will be the deciding factors. Nevertheless, Adams provided a path via which the Nets could have their unvaccinated star on the court full time for the first time this season. Thus far, Irving has only played in road games.
“I look forward in the next few weeks of going to a real transformation that I don’t have to wonder what you look like, I would know what you look like again,” Adams said, referencing masked reporters, during a news conference at Brooklyn Navy Yard. “And so we are moving in the right direction, we’re going to do it in a safe way.”
The Nets are fighting for a playoff spot with 23 games remaining, 13 of which will be at Barclays Center. They officially will return from the All-Star break Thursday, when they will host the Celtics, as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed and just 3 ¹/₂ games removed from falling entirely out of the play-in tournament.
Irving isn’t the only player the Nets have been missing. Kevin Durant, who sprained his left MCL last month, practiced Wednesday but is not expected back imminently.
Ben Simmons, acquired from the 76ers in the James Harden trade, is with the team. Because he hasn’t played since last season, however, he still is ramping up and is not as close to returning to the court as Durant, coach Steve Nash said.
And if the city’s rules remain as they are, Irving would only be eligible for eight of the Nets’ remaining games.
As desperately as the Nets need reinforcements, Nash said he only had heard about Adams’ comments from a public relations staffer just before addressing media.
“It’d be great for us to have Kyrie available for all our games,” Nash said. “Having said that, who knows? It’s not really in our control, so we leave it up to the mayor and wait patiently.”
Forward James Johnson, in echoing NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s recent sentiments about unvaccinated opponents being allowed to play in New York while Irving cannot, said the rule “doesn’t make sense.”
Though he is glad the mayor is moving toward ending the mandate, Johnson said,“I don’t really get too encouraged with what people say.”
As cases have dropped in the past few weeks, several cities — including Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Seattle and Minnesota’s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul — have either lifted their vaccine requirements or announced imminent end dates.
According to NYC Health, New York City has averaged 796 total confirmed and reported coronavirus cases in the past week. The daily average over the past 28 days has been 1,921.
Barring an unforeseen turn in the pandemic, it seems Nets fans will be able to witness Irving play in person this season. The Nets did not make Irving available for comment, but Nash said he has been “extremely locked in.”
“Kyrie’s been great on the practice floor, he’s been great in film sessions, he’s been creating dialogue over aspects of our play, so I sense a real focus and urgency from him,” Nash said of Irving — who is averaging 24.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 14 games this season. “So if that’s any indication, I would say he’s getting excited at the prospect of playing in all our games, hopefully in the short term.”
If the unforeseen happens, the Nets have a better fall-back option to sub for Irving at home following the addition of Goran Dragic as extra insurance at point guard. And if the unforeseen happens, it seems clear the Nets do not envision any other path toward Irving playing full time.
Irving has been adamant he will not take the COVID-19 vaccine and has said there are things more important than the Nets’ title chances.
Irving has waited out the city, the Nets and the pandemic. It suddenly seems possible for him to win the waiting game — unless the eighth-place Nets already have lost.
— With Bernadette Hogan
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February 24, 2022 at 01:42AM
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