- NYC Mayor Eric Adams will lift the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for athletes.
- This affects most notably Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets, whose team has +550 odds to win the NBA Championship.
- However, it is possible that both the New York Yankees and New York Mets are also affected.
NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to remove New York’s vaccine mandate for professional athletes and entertainers.
Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets has been the poster boy for the effort to remove the mandate, dropping consecutive 50-point games while being unable to play in many games due to the mandate.
The New York Post reports that an announcement on the policy will happen on Thursday, and Adams will remove the mandate at this time.
The ramifications are obvious for many New York teams, as there are high-profile unvaccinated players on several of them.
NBA Championship Odds
- Phoenix Suns +280
- Brooklyn Nets +550
- Golden State Warriors +600
- Milwaukee Bucks +600
- Philadelphia 76ers +900
- Boston Celtics +1000
With the announcement of Irving’s ability to participate in the sport once again, the Brooklyn Nets are still the favorites to come out of the NBA’s Eastern Conference on the online sportsbooks despite currently occupying the eighth seed.
The Nets, who started out the year with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden on the roster, struggled in the absence of some-to-all of their stars this year.
Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, Durant has missed time with injuries, and Irving’s vaccine issues were widely publicized.
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Now, new star Ben Simmons is allegedly suffering from a herniated disc, but the Nets remain the Eastern Conference team with the best odds to win the NBA Championship.
World Series Winner Odds
- Los Angeles Dodgers +450
- Toronto Blue Jays +800
- Houston Astros +950
- New York Mets +1000
- New York Yankees +1000
- Chicago White Sox +1100
Not only the Nets will be affected by this news. It is highly likely that there are unvaccinated players on both the Yankees and the Mets.
When Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was asked about his vaccination status, he demurred, saying:
“I’m so focused on just getting through the first game of spring training. We’ll cross that bridge whenever the time comes, but right now so many things can change so I’m not really too worried about that right now.”
It seems Judge may have been right about things changing - with Adams ready to rescind the order, his vaccination status won’t matter outside of keeping him healthier during the season in the event of him contracting COVID-19.
Both the Yankees and the Mets are among the top five teams in the league in terms of World Series odds, and the two are now no longer carrying the risk of having to sit players due to vaccination status.
Maxwell joined the USAOnlineSportsbooks team in 2019. He focuses on creating sports betting content that informs and educates. He focuses on the NBA, the NFL, College Football and Basketball, and whatever else comes across his desk.
