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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has entered the chat! Finally.
Kyrie Irving Can't Play in Brooklyn
Men Of Order has been covering Kyrie Irving all throughout this NBA season. If you don't know the backstory on what's happening with Kyrie, here's a quick recap.
Due to the jab mandates in New York City, Kyrie has not been allowed to play in Brooklyn Nets home games. Since he wasn't going to be able to play home games, the Nets decided to not allow him to play away games either. The team punished him for standing on his beliefs.
THEN, the Nets (fully medicated) roster was too sick to play, so they turned to Kyrie to save the day!
Since bringing Kyrie back, he's still only played in away games & has yet to touch the floor in Brooklyn this season.
Health and Safety
Kyrie Irving isn't allowed to play in Brooklyn because he didn't get his shots up... if you know what I mean.
However, un-medicated players on other NBA teams ARE allowed to play in Brooklyn. How does this contribute to the health & safety of New York residents or the people attending the games?!
NBA Commissioner Steps Up
We've been talking about it for months & months here at Men Of Order. It turns out the NBA's commissioner agrees with us.
The oddity of it to me, is that, it only applies to home players. If ultimately that rule is about protecting people who are in the arena, it just doesn't quite make sense to me that an away player who's unvaccinated can play in Barclays (in Brooklyn), but the home player can't.
Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner
Thank you for finally saying what was obvious months ago, Commish!
Why now, all of a sudden?
Brooklyn Nets Disappointing Season
The Nets currently sit at 8th place in the Eastern Conference after finishing 2nd just a year ago. Even though Kyrie has been playing in away games now, it's hard to build chemistry with the team when being forced to sit out every couple games. They also just traded away a piece of their Big 3, which was covered on I Got Next.
The 7th-10th teams will have to participate in a play-in tournament to earn the last 2 playoff spots. I doubt the NBA would be happy with the star-studded Brooklyn Nets missing the NBA Playoffs.
Money Talks
Last year, a Brooklyn Nets Game 7 against the Bucks in the 2nd round was one of the most watched early round games in almost a decade of the NBA Playoffs.
Wouldn't you want that team in the playoffs again?! Adam Silver is ready to do everything he can to make sure Kyrie & the Nets make the playoffs. Getting Kyrie back in Brooklyn would be huge.
Do you think Adam Silver would be questioning this policy if one of the Nets' role players was un-jabbed instead of their superstar point guard Kyrie Irving?! I wouldn't bet on it.
Silver also stated that he isn't ruling out the possibility of the mandates being lifted.
Will Kyrie be playing in Brooklyn by the playoffs? I think so!
