Source:
Tim
Nwachukwu
/
Getty
NBA
star
Kyrie
Irving
made
his
return
to
Brooklyn
and
took
a
shot
at
New
York
City
Mayor
Eric
Adams
in
the
process.
On
Tuesday
night
(Feb.
6),
the
Dallas
Mavericks
went
up
against
the
Brooklyn
Nets
at
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
exhibit
that
while
with
the
Nets.
“Thank
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
opted
not
to
get
vaccinated,
and
so
the
policy
kept
him
from
playing
in
the
Nets’
home
games
during
the
majority
of
the
2021-2022
season.
The
team
also
sat
him
for
most
of
its
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
exemption
from
the
mandate
for
athletes.
In
total,
Irving
only
played
29
games,
costing
him
millions.
The
Mavericks
would
go
on
to
win
the
game
119-107,
with
Irving
getting
some
boos
from
the
crowd.
Afterward,
he
reflected
on
his
time
with
the
team,
which
ended
last
February
when
they
granted
his
request
to
be
traded
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
the
championship
aspirations
but,
for
me,
I
think
it
was
bigger
than
a
championship
here,”
Irving
said,
according
to
the
Daily
News.
“I
had
to
really
take
some
moral
stances
that
propelled
me
into
a
place
in
my
life
that
I
had
to
become
accustomed
to.
There
were
some
political
things
that
were
going
on
here
as
well
that
I
couldn’t
control,
that
I
was
responsible
for.
There
were
some
things
that
I
did
on
my
own
accord
that
I
look
back
on,
and
they
were
mistakes,
and
I
have
to
be
accountable
for
those
things.
I’m
not
perfect,
but
one
thing
I
can
say
is
I’ve
been
able
to
learn
from
things.”
