Durant excited to have Irving Kyrie back in the team following the lifting of the vaccine mandate by New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant has expressed his happiness having Irving Kyrie back into the team after a long time not playing in home games due to New York vaccine mandate.
The New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed on Thursday that the mandate for unvaccinated athletes and performers has been lifted, pavin g the way for Irving to feature in home games, who hasn’t been able to play in the city all season, as he will make his home debut Sunday night against the Charlotte Hornets.
Speaking with the media about Irving Kyrie, Durant admitted that his return means a lot for the team and also the fans.
Durant is glad the vaccine saga is now behind them and hopes the Nets can finish the season on a strong note.
“It’s a long time coming,” Nets star forward Kevin Durant said. “It’s an exciting time for Brooklyn Nets fans and New York fans to see one of our own back on the floor at home. It means a lot to our team, happy to have him back, and look forward to finishing the season strong. I’m glad this is all behind us.
“There’s no crying over spilled milk. It is what it is,” Durant said of the way things have played out this season. “But I’m not naive to the fact that the Mets and the Yankees, they have a lot of power in our city. I’m sure once they all helped and had conversations with whoever they needed to talk to, it was able to push it over the top. So sports is a huge factor in a lot of these major cities and I’m glad we can get things done for everybody to move forward. I know New York City fans are excited about it.”
“Kyrie is pretty much level mentality regardless of the situation,” Durant added. “And approaches it the same. He came in and not a change in emotion for him. He knew this day was going to come. He just was patient. We all were, and we can move on. … I’m glad we don’t have to talk about it no more — it’s good that we can eliminate something as huge as this whole thing that was lingering around our head for the whole year. I’m glad we can move on.
“It’s great for continuity,” Durant said. “Great to know that coming off the road, we don’t have to worry about adjusting our lineups or our game plans based off of Kyrie not being there, so hopefully on Sunday we get even more energy from our fan base and help us get that W, so I’m looking forward to it.”
