Silver: NYC 'should take a look at' current vaccine mandate

NBA commissioner Adam Silver says New York City should re-examine its current vaccine mandate that prohibits unvaccinated players from playing in home games.

Silver cited the lack of enforcement toward visiting players as a reason to re-evaluate.

"The oddity of it to me is that it only applies to home players," Silver said during an appearance on ESPN's Get Up. "If ultimately that rule is about protecting people who are in the arena, it just doesn't quite make sense to me that an away player who is unvaccinated can play in Barclays (Center), but the home player can't. To me, that's a reason they should take a look at that ordinance."

While all New York Knicks players were fully vaccinated before the start of the 2021-22 campaign, Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving remains the league's most high-profile unvaccinated player. He's currently only eligible to play in road games outside of New York and Toronto.

A similar mandate enacted in San Francisco impacted Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins earlier this season, but the Canadian ultimately elected to get vaccinated so he could suit up for home games.

Silver added that he could envision New York City mayor Eric Adams modifying the current vaccine mandate, considering he wasn't in office when it was implemented. Adams said in November that the city's mandate would remain the same, but he offered an updated stance on Wednesday.

"The rule is unfair," Adams said, according to Politico's Amanda Eisenberg.

He also said he's "struggling" with the decision of whether to change the mandate because it could send mixed messages to the public.