When it comes to belief in the Nets, there is one Brooklynite who is still keeping the faith in the borough’s lone professional sports team. New Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso is confident the Nets can still make a run with their full roster available.
One player who has been noticeably absent in Brooklyn has been Kyrie Irving due to the city’s private-sector mandate. Irving remains one of the few NBA players to remain unvaccinated.
Reynoso told amNewYork and The Brooklyn Game during an event at Barclays Center this week that he had not reached out to New York City Mayor Eric Adams about the mandate. He did say that he was confident that the vaccine issue would be solved before the postseason began.
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“The percentages are getting down to below 1% soon. Vaccines are really high right now,” Reynoso said. “We’ve done all we can do at this point. If you haven’t gotten vaccinated it isn’t because of a lack of information. But because the variant is down, the vaccinations are up then I’m rooting for New York City to get back. … I’m just eager as the next Brooklynite to get back to normal.”
Reynoso praised the return of the ACC Tournament at Barclays Center earlier this week during a ceremony outside the Brooklyn venue. In remarks, the borough president alluded to the arena being the only one in the city that would be hosting playoff basketball this season.
The Nets currently are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and would have to go through the play-in round just to make it to the NBA Playoffs.
Reynoso has been a Nets fan since the team moved to the borough and Barclays Center in 2012 after rooting for the Seattle Supersonics for years. Asked for his analysis of the team, Reynoso pointed to Ben Simmons getting on the court as a big one.
“I know (Simmons) has some back issues, but we need him right now,” Reynoso said. “The worst-case scenario we have a play-in. With Kevin Durant at the help,m I don’t see us losing a one-shot game. Then I just don’t see anybody in the NBA beating us four games out of seven. So I feel good for its prospects, but we have to get the team in.”
