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Kyrie Irving put on a show on Tuesday night as he set a new Brooklyn Nets franchise record for the most points scored in a single game. The seven-time All-Star caught fire against the Orlando Magic early on and he did not take his foot off the pedal. Irving dropped a career-high 60 points all over the Magic as he led the Nets to a lopsided 150-108 win.
After the game, Irving faced a myriad of different questions from the media. Unsurprisingly, the subject shifted to the issue surrounding the vaccine mandate in New York City. To this day, Kyrie has not played in a single home game for the Nets throughout the season because of this mandate. However, Kyrie himself revealed that he is adamant that things are about to take a major turn in his favor (h/t Nick Friedell of ESPN):
Kyrie says he’s still confident that the vaccine mandate in NYC will get rolled back and he’ll be able to play at Barclays this season.
He also says he plans to attend tomorrow’s game — and jokes he’ll wear a media pass.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) March 16, 2022
New York has gone back and forth with the mandate rollback. While many are on the same boat with Irving in terms of the city tweaking the rules to let him play in home games, there are still some who believe that this should not be the case. There remains to be a city-wide mandate for the private sector which bans Irving from playing in home games. Incidentally, unvaccinated players from opposing teams are now allowed to play in New York simply because they are not covered by the mandate.
There has been a strong push to revise the vaccine mandate in New York, particularly for the private sector, which appears to be picking up a lot of steam. Irving himself is confident that it's only a matter of time before things change. Once it does, he should be able to play in home games for the Nets.
Irving's magic is what the Nets have been missing at home. This team has gone 3-7 in their last 10 home games. They've now won three straight road games. The big difference has been Kyrie Irving, who also happened to drop a 50-piece in Charlotte last week.
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On Monday, however, the Nets received a hefty fine from the NBA to the tune of $50,000 for allowing Kyrie to enter their locker room during their game against the Knicks. Apparently, this was a violation of city and league policies despite the fact that Irving didn't even play and was attending the game as an audience member.
Kyrie also opened up about these recent developments in his post-game presser on Tuesday. The Nets superstar admitted that the past few days have been particularly odd and that he had no idea the team were going to be fined for his decision to attend the game:
“My wife told me not to use ‘lovely' to y'all anymore, so I'm trying to think of some other superlatives to describe the moments that have gone on the last two days, three days,” Irving said, via Dave Early of ClutchPoints. “Man, it's been exciting. It's been nerve-wracking. It's been a little awkward, a little weird just being back at home. It's my second time being in Barlcays (Center) other than going to the Duke game. It just wasn't ideal. So I was just trying to be in the moment, be there for my teammates more importantly… Didn't know we were gonna be fined and things were gonna transpire again. We're such a close group that I think at this point, we're ready to deal with whatever comes our way.”
Kyrie Irving talks about how his wife asked him not to use the word "lovely" anymore… so he finds some new words to describe how weird it's been visiting Barclays Center as a spectator. pic.twitter.com/6NAssR3Op1
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) March 16, 2022
There's no denying that Kyrie Irving is one of the most controversial stars in the NBA today. In fact, it has become his persona. However, what is also an undeniable fact is that he remains to be one of the best basketball players on the planet. There's just no better way to silence your critics than by dominating the sport, albeit as a part-time player. Just imagine how scary the Nets are going to be once that mandate is finally lifted.
