NY mayor urges Irving to get vaccinated

NEW YORK • New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has made an appeal to Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to get vaccinated after the National Basketball Association (NBA) player dodged questions about whether he would be able to comply with the city's vaccine mandates at sports arenas.

"His fans are going to say 'Come on, join us, help us'," he told CNN.

Irving reportedly does not plan on getting vaccinated and while the league will not mandate inoculation, local rules mean unvaccinated New York City and San Francisco-based players will not be able to play in home games - the measures do not apply to visiting players.

Mr de Blasio said he did not believe the Nets should make any exceptions for Irving and claimed the reason why the city was pushing so hard on widespread vaccine mandates for sports and other cultural venues, healthcare workers and teachers was down to a drive to boost vaccine rates.

He said 45 per cent more doses had been administered since the first mandates were issued in July.

"We all respond to deadlines, we all respond to rules. Now is time for mandates, we have to end the Covid era," he said.

Nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers are vaccinated, making the city and the state one of the highest vaccinated places in the United States.

"The mandates have worked. In the end, are you going to do the right thing, keep that pay cheque? The vast majority choose to get vaccinated," Mr de Blasio added.

Earlier this week, Irving failed to show up at a Nets media briefing and the guard has since declined to disclose if he would be able to play in the Nets' first home pre-season game on Oct 8.

"I just would love to just keep that private, and handle it the right way with my team, and go forward together with a plan," he said.

"Obviously, I'm not able to be present there today. But that doesn't mean that I'm putting any limits on the future of me being able to join the team."

Players who do not comply with local vaccine mandates will not be compensated for games they miss, said NBA spokesman Mike Bass.

Home games constitute half the regular season, so New York and San Francisco players may risk seeing their pay effectively cut in half.

Around 10 per cent of the NBA's 500 players have either refused to get vaccinated or have declined to divulge their vaccination status.

Golden State Warriors starting forward Andrew Wiggins, another vaccine holdout, has vowed to stick to his guns, saying: "I'm just going to keep fighting for what I believe and for what I believe is right.

"What's right to one person, isn't right to the other and vice versa."

Michael Porter Jr is not affected by the new rules but the Denver Nuggets guard, who earlier this week signed a max value US$172 million (S$234 million) rookie extension, is another who is holding off on the vaccine.

"For me, I don't feel comfortable. My stance on the mandate is it definitely shouldn't be a mandate," he said.

"It should be everyone's decision. I see it both ways. If you want to get it... that's good for you. But if you feel like, 'I don't feel safe getting it, then don't get it'."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG, REUTERS