On Wednesday, New York City mayor Eric Adams suggested that he was planning on lifting COVID-19 vaccine restrictions in indoor public spaces in the next few weeks.
Many believed that this meant that Kyrie Irving would soon be able to play in home games again for the Brooklyn Nets, but it appears that still may not be the case.
According to New York Daily News City Hall reporter Chris Sommerfeldt, Irving still may not be able to play once these restrictions are lifted in New York City because of the city’s private employer mandate.
This mandate requires all employees of Big Apple-based private companies to be vaccinated, which includes the Nets.
Adams is planning on changing mandates that fall under the “Key to NYC,” which includes lifting the vaccine restrictions for indoor fitness, indoor dining, and indoor entertainment.
While this seems like it would apply to professional sports, that still falls under the private sector. Mayor Adams has said previously that he will not revisit the mandate on the private sector.
We will see if this is something that Adams makes a decision about in the future, but it seems like Irving could still be unable to play for the Nets at home unless there is some sort of exemption made for him or the team going forward.
The team could desperately use Irving as a full-time player again. They have gone through a huge losing streak as of late, and many of those losses have come at home when they’ve been without Irving.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.