On February 17, Beijing time, the 2021-22 NBA regular season continued. In this season's NBA, there is one star who has become the focus of fan and media attention, and he is Nets star Irving. As we all know, due to the refusal to be vaccinated, Irving will not be able to appear at home for the Nets under new York's epidemic prevention regulations.
Earlier today, NBA President Xiao Hua spoke about the matter in an interview, in which he publicly criticized New York City's epidemic prevention system, saying: "I really think this is stupid. If the rule is meant to protect people in the arena, it doesn't make sense that an unvaccinated away player can play at the Barclays Center and not the home team player. So for me, it's necessary for them to revisit this provision. I believe that with the new mayor of New York taking office, we may soon see that change. ”
New York's new mayor, Eric Adams, was quick to respond to the matter in an interview. Speaking about Irving not being able to play at home, he said: "I admit that these regulations are very unfair, to be honest, I am working on this. Because for home teams, it is unfair to face different rules than the away team. ”
As Adams said, the Nets face a different situation than the away team. If there are players on the away team who aren't vaccinated, they can play at barclays Center, the Nets' home stadium, but the same can't happen to the Nets. Irving is the biggest example, he is not vaccinated, so he can't play at home with the Nets.
So if that rule can change in the near future, it's certainly great news for the Nets, because it means they're likely to have a full-time Irving instead of the current part-time status.