Kyrie Irving still may face Barclays ban even if vax mandate is lifted

Will Kyrie Irving soon be back on the floor at Barclays Center?

Confusion reigned Sunday after a tweet by New York City Mayor Eric Adams indicated that he plans to lift the vaccine mandate governing entertainment venues such as Barclays Center by March 7.

However, Fabien Levy, the spokesman for the mayor, told Newsday on Sunday that Irving still needs to get vaccinated to play at Barclays Center because of the mandate governing private sector employees.

Though unvaccinated fans will be able to come to Barclays Center, employees, including Irving, must be vaccinated.

The Nets declined to comment on the mayor’s tweet on Sunday.

Only 12 hours earlier, Irving was very hopeful that he soon would be back on the floor for home games.

"I’m glad that things are kind of settling down and there’s light at the end of the tunnel here," he said after scoring a season-high 38 points as the Nets beat the Bucks in Milwaukee. "Hopefully I can get back on that home floor playing in the Barclays and now we can finally have that conversation that you’ve been dying to have just about turning the page and moving forward beyond this."

Though the mayor’s most recent decision to lift the Key2NYC mandate that governs indoor dining, fitness and entertainment venues does not immediately impact Irving’s status, things do appear to be trending in his direction.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said that the NYC mandate — which allows unvaccinated visiting players to play but not home players — "doesn’t quite make sense."

Irving went out of his way Saturday to thank the commissioner for his comments.

"I know his job is not easy," Irving said. "Standing in the fire, sometimes, on behalf of our league. So my respect level went to a whole new one for him, and I’m just grateful that he did that, and he really took one for the team."

Irving may be one of the more polarizing figures in sports, but there’s no two sides to how he played Saturday night in leading the Nets to a 126-123 win over the defending NBA champions.

Yes, it was one game. But viewed against the backdrop of the recent news that Kevin Durant is headed back to the Nets sometime this week, one has to wonder if the season has reached a turning point.

"It could be," Nash said. "I don’t want to get carried away. It’s one win. Guys were rewarded for their effort and play and character tonight . . . Let’s just take it day by day right now. Be really grateful for the effort and the character these guys have shown recently. They got a win tonight, and let’s see what we can do Monday against Toronto."

Nash can be excused for his caution. For weeks, he was optimistic as he tried to steer the Nets out of their post-Durant-injury free fall. It couldn’t have been easy for him to keep a smile as the Nets went 5-14 in the wake of Durant’s MCL injury. Or when James Harden shredded the team chemistry and demanded a trade.

With 22 games left to climb out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference and avoid the play-in tournament, it’s understandable that Nash isn’t ready to declare the Nets’ roller-coaster ride over. What he does continue to insist is that his team will be a better one for going through everything it has this season.

"We’ve had some tough weeks here and we’ve asked them to stay together, first of all," Nash said. "This will be the building blocks of whatever success we can attain in the end. It’s a big win but a small step. It’s proof that their work was worthy."

With Matthew Chayes

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.