After many months and 74 regular season games, Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving made his season debut in front of the Nets’ faithful on Sunday night.
His first game at Barclays Arena came just days after New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that professional athletes and performers are now exempt from the city’s vaccine mandate in order to work in the city.
“Today, I signed emergency Executive Order 62, expanding the performance exemption to private employer mandates,” Adams said on Thursday. “This is about putting New York City-based performance on a level playing field. Day one when I was mayor, I looked at the rule that stated ‘home town players had an unfair disadvantage [to] those who were coming to visit.’”
“And immediately, I felt that we needed to look at that,” Adams continued. “But my medical professionals said, ‘Eric, we’re at a different place. We have to wait until we’re at a place where we’re at a low area and we can re-examine some of the mandates.’ We’re here today.”
It’s a massive deal for the Nets, who have gone through long losing stretches during the regular season, at one point losing 11 in a row during the months of January and February. Irving’s full-time participation is a massive boost to a Nets team that will need to win in the play-in games in order to be one of the eight playoff teams.
On Sunday night, Irving’s return to the court was greeted with cheers from Brooklyn’s home crowd, but they were quickly quieted.
Kyrie Irving received loud cheers from fans at Barclays Center during introductions. Irving is playing in his first home game for the Brooklyn Nets since Game 2 versus the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on June 7, 2021. He waved to the crowd before tip off. pic.twitter.com/ZVav5KTsXn
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) March 27, 2022
Irving shot just 6-22 from the floor (27.2%), scoring 16 points in a 119-110 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The loss dropped the Nets into the ninth spot in the Eastern Conference, with seven games remaining on the regular season schedule.
Following the loss, Irving made it clear that the game was about much more than just basketball.
“I made it very clear it was never just about me,” Irving said. “I think for my own legacy, that’s to be written by all those that I impact and all those that impact me, and it’s far bigger than just a basketball game. But when I’m in this locker room, I get a chance to perform with a bunch of guys that are selfless and are sacrificing just as much as I am. It makes it worthwhile.”
When Irving first announced that he was unvaccinated against COVID-19 in October, Irving said that his stance on the vaccine was about more than just him, saying that “nobody should be forced to do anything with their bodies.” He reiterated that stance after Sunday’s game.
“The point of this season for me was never to just take a stand,” Irving said. “It was really to make sure that I’m standing on what I believe in, in freedom. Freedom. I don’t think that’s a word that gets defined enough in our society. About the freedom to make choices with your life without someone telling you what the f*** to do. And whether that carries over into nuances of our society that politicians control, or government controls …”
“I’m standing for freedom. So, that’s in all facets of my life,” Irving continued. “And there’s nobody that’s enslaving me, there’s nobody that’s telling me what I’m going to do with my life, and that’s just the way I am. And if I get tarnished in terms of my image and people try to slander my name continuously, those aren’t things that I forget. I haven’t forgotten anything that anybody said. I don’t read everything, but I definitely read some things that put my family’s name in a certain position that I believe are unfair. I’ve been discriminated against. People have said things that have been biased. They’ve gone against their own morals. And where we’re living today, I have such a strong moral code of just being honest, being truthful, following God’s guidance, and just living with the results. But in terms of that, I’m a servant. I’m comfortable being in that position.”
Kyrie Irving on his legacy:
"Freedom. It's about the freedom to make choices with your life without someone telling you what the f–k to do. I have such a strong moral code of being honest." pic.twitter.com/U8AWJYDWQk
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) March 28, 2022
The Nets next face the Detroit Pistons in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].