Source: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty
NBA star Kyrie Irving he made his return to Brooklyn and took a shot at New York Mayor Eric Adams during.
On Tuesday Night (Feb. 6), the Dallas Mavericks faced the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center with Kyrie Irving playing there for the first time since his acrimonious split with the team last season. During a 36-point performance, Irving was near the sideline when a fan known as Courtside Nets on X, formerly Twitter, asked the guard why he didn't show it while he was with the Nets. “Thanks to Mayor Adams for that, bro,” Irving replied.
The jab (no pun intended) was related to the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate enacted by Mayor Adams. Irving chose not to get vaccinated, so the policy prevented him from playing in Nets home games for most of the 2021-2022 season. The team also sat him for most road games during the first two months of that season. The guard would appear in the Nets' 75th game of the season after Mayor Adams created an exception to the order for athletes. In all, Irving played only 29 games, costing him millions.
The Mavericks would go on to win the game 119-107, with Irving receiving a few boos from the crowd. He then reflected on his time with the team, which ended last February when they accepted his trade request to Dallas. In his three and a half years with the team, the assembled “super team” of Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden only once won a playoff series playing together.
“Obviously, I fell short in terms of championship aspirations, but, for me, I think it was bigger than a championship here,” Irving said, according to Daily NEWS. “I had to really take some moral stands that put me in a place in my life that I had to get used to. There were some political things going on here too that I couldn't control that I was responsible for. There were some things that I did willingly and I look back on them, and they were mistakes, and I have to be accountable for those things. I'm not perfect, but one thing I can say is that I've been able to learn from things.”
