New York City COVID-19 vaccine mandate for athletes expected to be lifted Thursday

New York Mayor Eric Adams is expected to lift the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on athletes Thursday, paving the way for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play at the Barclays Center on Sunday and for unvaccinated New York Yankees and Mets players to play in their April home openers, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN on Wednesday.

The rollback of the mandate that has applied to all private businesses in the city would cover professional athletes and performers, and come on the heels of discussions that had given hope to NBA and MLB teams that the long-awaited move would come to fruition.

Adams, who was sworn in Jan. 1 and has eased the city’s COVID-19 policies since, said Tuesday: “Baseball, basketball, businesses — they have to wait until that layer [of progress] comes.”

The wait is not expected to be much longer. The Nets, currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and subject to the play-in tournament that begins April 12, would get back Irving, who has been kept out of their 35 home games this season. Irving turned 30 on Wednesday and is averaging 27.7 points in 19 games this season.

His absence has dominated headlines about the mandate, though the approach of Opening Day — the Yankees’ home opener is April 7 and the Mets’ April 15 — ratcheted up pressure, with multiple unvaccinated players on both teams.

Because MLB has the lowest vaccination rate of the four major men’s professional sports, baseball officials were working with the mayor’s office, according to sources, to push for updates to the mandate. Unvaccinated players on road teams have been allowed to play against the Nets and New York Knicks, and would have been eligible to participate against the Yankees and Mets as well.

Adams’ announcement Thursday will take…