Report: NYC Mayor to lift vaccine mandate making Kyrie eligible to play at home

 New York City Mayor Eric Adams didn't show any signs publicly that he was ready to peel back the private sector vaccine mandate that prevented unvaccinated Kyrie Irving from playing at Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden.

According to Politico, Adams has reversed course and intends to lift the mandate, thereby allowing Irving and other unvaccinated professional athletes including Mets and Yankees players to play in NYC.

Kyrie Irving and other unvaccinated athletes will be allowed to play professional sports in New York City under a major policy change Mayor Eric Adams is poised to announce Thursday, sources familiar with the matter confirmed. https://t.co/9Il9ZEtWAT

— POLITICO New York (@politicony) March 23, 2022

The reported decision comes approximately two weeks prior to the NBA playoffs starting and with optimism Irving would be eligible on a full-time basis at an all-time low in recent days.

The private sector mandate is reviewed Thursday each week and the official word is expected by tomorrow.

Brooklyn is two games back of Toronto for the seventh seed and three games back of Cleveland for sixth with ten games remaining.

Nets Insider: Report: NYC Mayor to lift vaccine mandate making Kyrie eligible to play at home https://t.co/AGR2Uqbaeg #NetsWorld #nba

— Nets Insider (@NetsInsiderBlog) March 23, 2022

The Nets have won five of the last six games and were hoping to avoid the play-in tournament and if the mandate is officially lifted, achieving the sixth seed with Irving fully in the fold is with their reach.