Nets star Kyrie Irving has been crying foul against New York City's COVID-19 mandates for months, claiming that allowing unvaccinated opponents to play at Barclays Center while prohibiting him from doing so is unfair. New York City Mayor Eric Adams apparently agrees.

Mayor Adams on Wednesday agreed with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who said the barring of Irving from Barclays "doesn't quite make sense"- but cautioned changing the rule might send "mixed messages."

Following a press conference about New York's 2023 budget, Adams told reporters he was "struggling" with the aspect of the city vaccine regulation while declining to reveal if he would reform it.

"First of all, I think the rule's unfair," Adams said in response to a reporter's question about Silver's comments.

"Having this city close down again keeps me up at night, and the message was put in place, the rule was put in place, to start changing it now I think it would send mixed messages," the mayor said.

The city just fired 1,430 unvaccinated employees, with Adams taking even more of a hard line on vaccine mandates than his predecessor.

'Key To NYC' Program

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required to enter many types of indoor settings including restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and sports stadiums, under New York City's "Key to NYC" program, which was introduced last summer by former Mayor Bill de Blasio and is maintained by Adams.

But exempted from the program are members of professional sports teams and performing artists who do not reside in New York City.

To comply with the regulation, the unvaccinated seven-time NBA All-Star does not appear in his team's home games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The Nets began allowing Irving to play in Nets road games in December, after initially prohibiting him from acting as a part-time player.

However, Adams is a former police officer, and as such, he may easily follow the evidence. At least, that is what Irving and the Nets are hoping, because COVID-19 infections have plummeted 60% in the city in the last two weeks, and hospitalizations have dropped 45%.

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NBA Commissioner, Nets Manager Expressed Optimism to Irving's Situation

Commissioner Adam Silver of the NBA has taken notice as well. Silver told ESPN that the oddity of the law in New York "only applies to home players."

Silver added that officials should take a look into the ordinance as it just "doesn't quite make sense" that an out-of-town player who has not received a COVID-19 vaccine can play in Barclays, but the home player cannot.

Nets general manager Sean Marks has also expressed optimism recently, claiming that he is "obviously hopeful" and Irving has teased the possibility of a return to play as far back as following the Nets' win in Chicago on January 12.

It has been unclear whether Nets owner Joe Tsai had been in touch with the mayor's office, said Nash, and he had not heard from either Tsai or Marks that they were any more confident about the mandate being loosened than they were a month ago.

Still, with Irving having played only 14 games - and currently on pace for just eight more in the regular season - the Nets are pointing out the flaw in the mandate.

Their optimism, though, must be strengthened by the mayor's pointing to the same thing.

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Written by: Jess Smith

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