Just like unvaccinated Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, any Mets and Yankees players who have not received the COVID-19 injection will be forced to sit out home games in New York City, due to a local mandate for private sector workers.
Mayor Eric Adams lifted the Key2NYC vaccine mandate earlier this month, allowing unvaccinated spectators to attend live events, such as Broadway shows or NBA games. However, Adams has been more cautious with former mayor Bill DeBlasio’s private sector mandate, which has sidelined Irving for all but 19 road games this season.
Irving, 29, scored a Nets-record and career-high 60 points in Tuesday’s win over the Magic in Orlando, but will be forced to sit out again on Wednesday when his teammates face the visiting Dallas Mavericks in Brooklyn.
The New York Daily News and New York Post confirmed the details of the private sector mandate with the Mayor’s office.
Yankees players including Joey Gallo (13), Josh Donaldson (28) and Aaron Judge (99) listen to instructions from a coach during the Yankees spring training workout on March 15, 2022, at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. It’s not known which Yankees players, if any, are unvaccinated
The New York Mets mascot Mr. Met during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in September of 2020. It’s not currently known which Mets players, if any, are unvaccinated against coronavirus
Irving, 29, scored a Nets-record and career-high 60 points in Tuesday’s win over the Magic in Orlando, but will be forced to sit out again on Wednesday when his teammates face the visiting Dallas Mavericks in Brooklyn
Adams, an avowed Nets fan, has hinted that changes could be coming, depending on advice from his health advisors.
It’s not currently known how many Mets and Yankees players have received the vaccine. Both clubs are rushing to assemble their rosters following MLB’s recent 99-day lockout, which precluded teams from signing free agents or starting spring training in February, as scheduled.
Any unvaccinated Mets and Yankees players could skirt by without getting the injection if Adams lifts the private sector mandate before next month. The Mets’ home opener is on April 15, while the Yankees’ is a week earlier on April 7.
‘On behalf of the Yankees, [team president] Randy Levine is working with City Hall and all other appropriate officials on this matter,’ the Yankees said in a statement to reporters. ‘We will have no further comment.’
The Mets have not commented on the mandate.
Yankees star Aaron Judge refused to directly answer a question about his vaccine status Tuesday.
‘I’m still focused on just getting to the first game of spring training,’ Judge said from the team’s Florida training complex. ‘So I think we’ll cross that bridge after the time comes. But right now, so many things could change. So I’m not really too worried about that right now.’
Mayor Eric Adams lifted the Key2NYC vaccine mandate earlier this month, allowing unvaccinated spectators to attend live events, such as Broadway shows or NBA games. However, Adams has been more cautious with former mayor Bill DeBlasio’s private sector mandate, which has sidelined Irving for all but 19 road games this season
The Mets’ Citi Field in Flushing, Queens served as a vaccination site for much of 2021
Last month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver called on Adams to simplify the mandate after unvaccinated Sacramento Kings player Justin Holiday was permitted to play against the Nets at Barclays Center because his employer is not based in the city.
‘This law in New York, the oddity of it to me is that it only applies to home players,’ Silver told ESPN in February. ‘I think if ultimately that rule is about protecting people who are in the arena, it just doesn’t quite make sense to me that an away player who is unvaccinated can play in Barclays but the home player can’t. To me, that’s a reason they should take a look at that ordinance.’
Adams was confronted by angry Nets fans earlier on Sunday while breaking ground on a new playground in Brooklyn, but appeared to have an answer prepared.
‘Listen, you’re right,’ Adams told the fans, as quoted by the New York Post. ‘Kyrie can play tomorrow: Get vaccinated.’
Adams has said he wants to see Irving playing home games, but cannot make an exception for one person.
New York Mets player Robinson Cano takes a pitch at spring training in Port St. Lucie, Florida
The NBA fined the Nets $50,000 on Monday for allowing unvaccinated Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving (pictured) into the team locker room a day earlier, when he was sidelined over his continued refusal to comply with New York City’s injection mandate for private sector workers
The Mayor went so far as to tell CNBC last week that the current rule ‘makes no sense,’ but even though he thinks it’s ‘ridiculous’ he needed to guard against sending mixed messages to his constituents.
‘Listen, I want Kyrie on the court,’ Adams said. ‘I would do anything to get that ring. So badly, I want it. But there’s so much at stake here. And I spoke with the owner of the team. 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.”
Irving made it two nights in a row with a 60-point scorer in the NBA, thanks to a 41-point first-half effort on Tuesday.
‘It just shows you we’re on our way to history,’ Irving said.
After the Nets game ended, Kyrie Irving (left) walked off arm-in-arm with Nets teammate Kevin Durant (right), who had scored a season-high 53 points, toward the locker room
During Brooklyn’s 150-108 victory, Irving shot 20 for 31, including 8 of 12 on 3-pointers, in 35 minutes. He made 12 of 13 free throws in matching the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season, done just a night earlier by Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns against San Antonio.
‘The night after Karl Towns had an incredible performance, and then to have Kyrie do it the next night, the league is in an amazing place right now,’ teammate Kevin Durant said. ‘We’re seeing a lot of talent displayed every night, and this was one of the elite ones.’
Irving and Durant became the first teammates in NBA history to post 50-point performances in consecutive games. Durant scored 53 points in a win against the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Irving scored 41 points in the first half, the most in the first two quarters since Kobe Bryant had 42 against Washington on March 28, 2003.
‘It was just about the team really, just getting in the flow,’ he said. ‘That’s the true purity of this game, doing it efficiently on both ends of the floor and coming out with a W.’
The guard left the game after hitting a long 3-pointer with 8:33 remaining and Brooklyn leading 128-94.
Playing in only his 19th game of the season because he isn’t eligible to play home games because of New York City’s mandate requiring vaccination against COVID-19, Irving reached the 50-point mark by spinning a layup off the glass with 5:02 left in the third quarter.
The only shot Irving seemingly missed as a COVID-19 vaccination, which continues to hang over his season like a cloud.
The NBA fined the Nets $50,000 on Monday for allowing Irving into the team locker room a day earlier in violation of the private sector mandate.
After watching his alma mater, Duke, lose the ACC title game at Barclays Center on Saturday, Irving was back at the Brooklyn arena for his team’s 110-107 victory over the New York Knick on Sunday.
Coach Steve Nash acknowledged during his postgame availability on Sunday that Irving had been in the locker room at halftime.
The league said in a statement Monday that the Nets violated New York City law and league health and safety protocols by permitting Irving to come into the locker room. Unlike the stands, the locker room is considered part of the team’s workplace environment.
Curiously, Irving is permitted to practice with his teammates at the Nets’ facility in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood. He’s also been playing road games with the Nets, who initially intended to sit him out entirely this season until he either got injected or the city lifted its private sector mandate.
Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks relented in December and began allowing Irving to practice and play on the road, albeit with mixed results. The Nets are just 7-11 when the seven-time All-Star has played in 2021-22.
Unvaccinated Nets guard Kyrie Irving (right) congratulates teammate Kevin Durant (left) as the latter scored 53 points in Sunday’s win over the crosstown rival Knicks. Irving has not been allowed to play home games this season due to his refusal to comply with the city’s vaccine mandate
Until this week, proof of vaccination was required for fans at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks play. Though that mandate has been lifted, there is still one in place for those working at all arenas.
The Nets were already aggravated because that didn’t apply to visitors, allowing an unvaccinated opponent to play when Irving couldn’t. They seemed even more frustrated on Sunday, when Irving’s arrival created a scene at a nationally televised game.
After Sunday’s game, Durant directed a message to Adams by accusing the Mayor of using the mandate to gain notoriety.
‘Yeah, I don’t get it,’ Durant told reporters. ‘But at this point now, it feels like somebody’s trying to make a statement or a point to flex their authority. But everybody out here is looking for attention, and that’s what I feel the mayor wants right now is some attention. He’ll figure it out soon. He better.
‘But it just didn’t make any sense,’ Durant continued. ‘It’s unvaxxed people in this building already. We’ve got a guy who can come into the building, I guess are they fearing our safety? I don’t get it. We’re all confused. Everybody in the world is confused at this point. Earlier on in the season, people didn’t understand what’s going on, but now it just looks stupid. So hopefully, Eric, you’ve gotta figure this out.’
Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving (11) celebrates after the Nets take the lead against the New York Knicks in the fourth quarter at Barclays Center
It wasn’t just Irving’s current teammates who were calling out Adams. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who played with Irving in Cleveland, also got into the action on Twitter
And it wasn’t just Irving’s current teammates who were calling out Adams. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who played with Irving in Cleveland, also got into the action on Twitter.
‘It literally makes ABSOLUTELY ZERO SENSE!!!’ James tweeted about New York’s mandate.
The Nets released a statement from Durant on Monday in which he explained the criticism he directed a day earlier at Adams, who took office in January.
‘The last two years have been a difficult and painful time for New Yorkers, as well as a very confusing time with the changing landscape of the rules and mandates,’ Durant said. ‘I do appreciate the task the Mayor has in front of him with all the city has been through. My frustration with the situation doesn’t change the fact that I will always be committed to helping the communities and cities I live in, and play in.’
Meanwhile, Irving’s status for the upcoming playoff push remains in question with the eighth-place Nets fighting to remain in postseason contention.
Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets attends the first half against the New York Knicks on Sunday
