NBA commissioner Adam Silver: NYC vaccination mandate 'doesn't quite make sense to me'

The Brooklyn Nets finally snapped their 11-game losing streak on Monday. It was a somewhat rare home victory for the Nets, as they've gone just 13-14 at the Barclays Center during the 2021-2022 campaign.

All season long, of course, Brooklyn has been playing their home contests without star point guard Kyrie Irving in the lineup, on the bench or even in the arena. His refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, plus New York City's mandate that all players for both the Nets and New York Knicks be vaccinated to compete in home games, has forced the would-be title contenders to be without at least one of their former "Big Three" since opening night.

That doesn't even address the ongoing absence to star forward Kevin Durant (who remains sidelined with knee injury) and the recently traded James Harden (his star replacement Ben Simmons also remains out).

During an appearance on ESPN's "Get Up" on Wednesday morning, NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the mandate that New York City currently has in place.

"This law in New York, the oddity of it to me is that it only applies to home players," Silver said, per ESPN's Andrew Lopez. "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."

In 14 games this season, Irving is averaging 24.1 points, 5.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds per contest, while posting a .452/.368/.925 shooting line. Brooklyn is currently 30-27 and in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings.