However, Irving would be able to attend home games as a spectator.
On Sunday, New York Mayor Eric Adams announced that provided the city’s Covid-19 numbers continue to go down, he plans to lift the city’s requirement to show proof of vaccination for indoor activities such as dining, attending gyms and entertainment facilities for those ages 5 and older starting March 7.
“Businesses may not allow any unvaccinated workers to come to their workplace,” the city’s website explains.
“This law in New York, the oddity of it to me is that it only applies to home players,” Silver said. “I think 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 is unvaccinated can play in Barclays but the home player can’t. To me that’s a reason they should take a look at that ordinance.”
He added that about 97% to 98% of NBA players were vaccinated.
As an unvaccinated player, Irving — a seven-time NBA All-Star — made his return to the Nets in January, playing in only road games due to the city’s mandate. Irving has played in 15 games this season, averaging 25.1 points per game and 5.3 assists. The Nets are 32-29 on the season.
The NBA directed comment to the mayor’s office. CNN has reached out to the Nets for comment but did not immediately hear back.
CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
