Barely 24 hours ago, there was a huge update that New York City was looking to make important changes to local vaccine mandate policy that could impact Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving.
For a short period of time, it sounded like Irving might actually be able to play home games as soon as March 7th when we saw updates like this from Manhattan Borough President Mark D. Levine:
BREAKING: @NYCMayor lifts mask mandate in public schools, and ends vaccine screening at restaurants and other private businesses. Effective Monday, March 7.
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) February 27, 2022
Okay, so Kyrie can play soon? Well, not so fast.
We had to pump the breaks when Shams Charania of The Athletic pointed out that there was an important caveat to upcoming changes, one which would exempt venues like Barclays Center from looming changes.
OK, so Kyrie can't play, even if those March 7th changes go into effect? Nothing seems crystal clear.
Still, it felt like an important update and folks like Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams have now both used phrasing suggesting that change may be “inevitable” for Irving's part-time status with the Nets. We just don't know when yet.
"The private sector mandate is still keeping Kyrie Irving from playing BUT.. it seems inevitable that at some point before the playoffs start he will be able to play at the Barclays Center" ~@ShamsCharania#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/NFjYqza7Qe
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 28, 2022
Here's interpretation on NYC Mayor's announcement: Kyrie Irving remains restricted from playing under NYC mandate for large employers, but March 7 loosening of Key2NYC mandate is another step in what's expected to be an inevitability Irving will be cleared to play this season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 27, 2022
Head coach Steve Nash opened up about how he deals with all of the confusing updates prior to tip -off versus the Toronto Raptors on Monday./
“But at this time, I really don't know anything about it,” Nash admitted. “It's kind of something that I think [Sean Marks'] Front Office is gonna deal with and let us know when we have good news.”
If nothing changes, Irving will only be able to appear in 7 more regular season games. Kyrie recently reacted to some of the recent city updates after exploding for 38 points in a win against the Milwaukee Bucks.




“Front office has said that there's gonna be a change on the 7th and that they're just digging into what that means, ” Nash said. “What it looks like, what's possible. That's the only information so, we didn't expect [Irving] to play before the 7th and we're still not sure that he can play after the 7th, we're just waiting to see what the news is and I'm sure they'll let us know.”
Reporter: has coach Steve Nash or anyone else in the organization talked to Kyrie Irving about getting the shot anymore?
"No."
-coach Nash offers his POV on the latest from NYC Mayor Eric Adams and possible vaccine mandate changes pic.twitter.com/2eSPr7JqV3— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) February 28, 2022
Nash was asked if he or anyone else in the organization has talked to Kyrie about getting the shot anymore?
“No,” Nash said of the matter.
"I have to follow the rules, and trust me I want Kyrie Irving on the court. We are here right now, opening our city because of vaccine mandates. We can't close down again. I cannot have my city close down again."
-Mayor Adams on Kyrie Irving situation. Tough update #NetsWorld https://t.co/a5O5bg4SDQ
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) February 28, 2022
We're curious why Shams or Woj would say it's inevitable Irving will be allowed to play at some point when Mayor Eric Adams himself, said Monday that he must follow rules, and pointed to the COVID numbers being as low as they are in large part because of vaccine mandates.
But it seems like at some point in time, Irving will be allowed to play in Brooklyn even without being vaccinated. But if that doesn't happen in time for the playoffs (or the Play-In) the Nets might be out of luck.
As Nash admitted, the team isn't expecting Irving to play before March 7th, and they're not sure if he'll be allowed to after. But they sure are hopeful they'll have their star back full time at some point. They're running low on time, but his last game was a glimpse into how good this team could be if fully healthy.