"Thank Mayor Adams": Kyrie Irving reignites anti-vaccination suspension controversy as courtside Nets fan heckles him

Kyrie Irving is back at Barclays Center for the first time since he was traded by the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks last year. “Uncle Drew” reportedly asked to be traded after failing to get a max extension from the Nets. Brooklyn sent Irving to Dallas for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks in 2027 and 2029.

Irving’s 3 ½ seasons with the Nets were marked with one controversy after another. The biggest came during the 2021-22 season when he played just 29 games after refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. In his return to Brooklyn, he was greeted with intense boos almost every time he touched the ball.

In one sequence late in the fourth quarter, a courtside fan asked Kyrie Irving why he couldn’t perform well with the Nets. The mercurial point guard answered:

"Thank Mayor [Eric] Adams for that, bro."

The Mayor of New York City, which is where Brooklyn belongs, had a mandate requiring everyone in indoor venues to have a COVID-19 vaccine. At the height of the pandemic, almost everyone wanted to get the jab. Irving was one of the few who staunchly refused to be vaccinated.

When Adams Eric Adams lifted the mandate in March 2022, Kyrie Irving still couldn’t play at Barclays Center. The requirement removed by the mayor was for public indoor venues, but the Brooklyn Nets arena is privately owned. People who work there, particularly those who interact with others, are still asked to have one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Irving can enter the building, but he was not allowed to play. The point guard also could not suit up for the Nets if they were playing at Madison Square in New York, which is obligated to follow the same rules.

Mayor Eric Adams had this to say about Kyrie Irving’s situation two years ago:

“We want to find a way to get Kyrie [Irving] on the court, but this is a bigger issue. 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.’”

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Mayor Eric Adams once ripped Kyrie Irving after the Nets-Mavericks trade

Mayor Adams may have been holding back when Kyrie Irving was still playing for the Brooklyn Nets. Once the trade to the Dallas Mavericks happened, he didn’t mince his words in a press conference about the point guard:

"I will find the team that beats us the most and then send him to that team because we would start beating that team. … No matter how much talent you have, your ability to interact with your colleagues is more important."

On Tuesday night, that wasn’t the case. Kyrie Irving dazzled in his return to his old haunting grounds. He had 36 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals in helping the Mavericks beat the Nets 119-107.