Adam Silver was asked by ESPN's Mike Greenberg on the possible impact of vaccine mandates on the remainder of the season, particularly with how Kyrie Irving is not allowed to play in home games for the Brooklyn Nets.
"Honestly, I have no inside information," said Silver. "I'm here in New York where that ordinance is in place that has the direct impact on Kyrie."
Silver then spoke of the NBA's vaccinate rate before suggesting the New York ordinance is inconstant in how it is applied.
"This law in New York, the oddity of it to me is that is only applies to home players. If ultimately that rule is protecting people who are in the arena, it just doesn't make quite sense to me that an away player can play at Barclays, but the home player can't. To me, that's a reason they should look at that ordinance.
"Being here in the New York market, the feeling particularly in the last week, many of the masking restrictions are being lifted. You can just feel it in the city. There are more people in restaurants. There are more people out and about.
"While, again, my personal view is people should get vaccinated and boosted, I can imagine a scenario where Brooklyn as part of New York City, with a new mayor who wasn't in place, Eric Adams, when that ordinance was put in place. I can see him deciding to change along the way and say 'It's no longer necessary to have a mandatory vaccination requirement.' Particularly one that only affects home players."
While Silver expressed optimism of Adams changing his position, New York City fired 1,430 city workers for failing to comply with its vaccine mandate.
