One day after announcing New York City would soon be dropping its indoor vaccine mandate if COVID-19 cases continued to drop, Mayor Eric Adams said on Monday Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, who isn’t vaccinated, would still not be able to play home games at Barclays Center.
Adams told CNBC he wants to see Irving play at home “so badly,” but allowing him to do so would “send the wrong message” to others who work in the city who have to be vaccinated in order to work.
“Listen, I want Kyrie on the court. I would do anything to get that ring,” Adams said. “But there’s so much at stake here.
“We want to find a way to get Kyrie on the court, but this is a bigger issue. I can’t have my city closed down again. It would send the wrong message just to have an exception for one player when we’re telling countless number of New York City employees, ‘If you don’t follow the rules, you won’t be able to be employed,'” he added.
Adams comments come after it was believed last week the lifting of the vaccine mandate would allow Irving to play at Nets’ home games, which would be a major boost to Brooklyn’s title hopes as the team currently sits as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with the playoffs less than two months away.
However, Adams announcement on Sunday included that other vaccine mandates, such as requiring employees in the city to be vaccinated, would remain in place as they are “vital to protecting New Yorkers.”
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Adams agreed the mandate that prohibits Irving from playing at Barclays Center “makes no sense” since unvaccinated away players are able to still play games in New York City, something NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has also criticized. Despite the “ridiculous rule,” Adams said he still wants the enforce it, adding he spoke to Nets owner Joseph Tsai about it.
“These are the rules and I have to follow the rules. If I don’t, I’m going to open the door that is sending the wrong message to everyday employees. Businesses have their vaccine mandates, city employees have their vaccine mandates. I have to follow the rules. Trust me, I want Kyrie on the court,” Adams said .”We are here right now, open in our city because of vaccine mandates. We can’t close down again.”
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NYC mayor won’t make exception for Kyrie Irving to play NBA home games
