Kevin Durant Blasts Mayor Over Vax Rule Sidelining Kyrie Irving

BROOKLYN, NY — Fans and NBA stars are calling on Mayor Eric Adams to change vaccine policies that have made it so Kyrie Irving can attend but not play in Brooklyn Nets' home games.

"Eric, you got to figure this out,” Nets player Kevin Durant said when asked about the rules after Sunday's game. "Pretty much everybody in the world is confused at this point. Early on in the season people didn’t understand what was going on, but now it just looks stupid."

Irving, who is unvaccinated, sat in the stands at the Barclays Center for the first time this season on Sunday given recently lifted vaccine mandates for New York City's indoor venues.

But, given an ongoing vaccine requirement for Barclays Center workers, Irving still wasn't allowed to play in the home game, as he hasn't been the entire season.

Vaccine rules have been a frustration for Nets players and fans alike given that it doesn't apply to visiting teams, meaning unvaccinated players on opposing teams are allowed to play while Irving cannot, according to reports.

"There’s unvaxxed people in this building already," Durant said. "We got a guy who can come into the building — I guess, are they fearing our safety? Like, I don’t get it."

On Monday, #FreeKyrie comments dominated the mayor's first post on TikTok, and could be found flooding responses to his other social media posts.

The mayor had a simple message for Nets fans who asked about Irving's status at an unrelated appearance over the weekend.

"Kyrie can play tomorrow," he said. "Get vaccinated.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.