After a series of conflicting reports about whether the city will withdraw its private sector mandate as early as Wednesday afternoon, Shams Charania reveals the mandate that stopped Kyrie Irving from playing in New York will be changed to allow Irving — and the unvaccinated Mets and Yankees — to play. Houses.
Sources: Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving will be cleared for home games as New York City changes the private sector vaccination mandate Thursday to allow vaccination exemptions for athletes and workplace entertainers. Unvaccinated Yankees and Mets players are also now eligible for home games.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 23, 2022
Indeed, Mayor Adams is due to make an “economy and health related announcement” Thursday morning at Citi Field.
In doing so, the mayor will NOT revoke the private sector mandate, but will instead release athletes and artists. Under the mandate, effective Dec. 27, city businesses with more than 100 employees are requiring all of their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to a source familiar with the situation, not only athletes but all New York artists will be announced tomorrow at City Hall.
— Stephen Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) March 23, 2022
This is the second “withdrawal” of mandates that affected Irving’s status. Earlier this month, the city withdrew the “Key2NYC” mandate that covered indoor venues.
The new change will allow Irving to play in all 10 Nets Finals games starting Sunday, when the Nets return to Brooklyn to play the Hornets. That number includes a road game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on April 6, which he was unable to play by mandate. Prior to the change, Irving was only eligible to play in two of the last 10: Wednesday in Memphis and April 2 in Atlanta.
Sources say Kyrie Irving is eligible to make his home debut at the Barclays Center on Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets. @TheAthletic @Stadium. New York City’s new exemption for city athletes and performers will go into effect immediately starting Thursday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 23, 2022
Irving, of course, hasn’t played at home since Game 2 of the Celtics’ playoff series on May 22 last year, due to his vaccination denial.
The Nets are currently in eighth seed and will be forced into the NBA play-in tournament. This decision is critical to the Nets’ prospects in the game. If the Nets finish in eighth place, they will be forced to play against the Raptors in Toronto on April 12, with Irving unable to play. Canada currently bans all unvaccinated individuals from entering the country. If they move to seventh place, the preliminary game will take place in Brooklyn. The Nets would certainly like to finish as the sixth seed, which would give them six days off between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.
As recently as Tuesday, the mayor appeared to hint that he would not allow unvaccinated Nets players, as well as the city’s two MLB teams, to play anytime soon.
“They have to wait,” Adams said of sports teams as he announced the end of mandatory masks for children aged 2 to 5. But with Major League Baseball approaching on April 7 Opening Day and numerous reports of unvaccinated Mets and Yankees, speculation grew that the city would relent.
On Tuesday, Adams did not provide any landmarks that the city will need to see before the mandate is lifted.
Earlier Wednesday, ESPN’s Nick Friedell suggested in The Recount Alt that the Nets’ hopes of Irving’s return were “gone” after speaking with city officials.
“So the Nets are on standby, they are waiting, but they thought it would be done. But Mayor Adams has made it clear that this won’t happen, at least not for the next couple of weeks…
Now that they were hoping that Kairi would be available to play at the Barclays Center? This is no more.
However, Adrian Wojnarowski, speaking on ESPN NBA Today, said the Nets are optimistic that the mandate will be changed at some point.
“I think there is optimism that it will happen, that Kyrie Irving has a chance to play at home for the Nets again this season. but you heard Eric Adams, Mayor of New York, say yesterday that sports teams in New York, the Nets, the Mets Yankees will have to wait their turn, but there’s optimism that they might not have to wait too long.”
The decision will end seven months of speculation about Irving’s status. In September, Irving told the Nets that he would not get vaccinated. With city officials operating indoors, this meant he would not be able to play at home. Initially, the Nets decided not to force Irving to play or participate in practices. Then, in mid-December, as COVID wiped out the Nets roster and reportedly with Kevin Durant’s encouragement, the Nets decided to make changes and allow away play.
Then, in February, James Harden, partly motivated by Irving’s uncertain status, asked for a trade and was sent to Philadelphia in exchange for Ben Simmons and Paul Millsap, Andre Drummond, Seth Curry, two first-round picks, and two eliminations from the trade.
There has been even more controversy in recent weeks. On March 13, Durant suggested that Mayor Adams was drawing attention by his refusal to change the private sector mandate, but he had to retract that comment the next day. Meanwhile, the Nets as an organization have remained silent, but John Abbamondi, CEO of BSE Global, Joe Tsai’s holding company, told media the team is in “regular contact” with city officials.
The players, of course, wanted Irving back. Earlier Wednesday, Andre Drummond said he was looking forward to Irving’s return.
“I’m not in politics, man. I play basketball and take care of my kids,” Drummond said. “Whatever the mayor decides, he will do. I hope he decides to do something to help (Kiri) in some way.”