Kyrie Irving may soon be able to play at the Barclays Center for the Brooklyn Nets as New York City is likely to change its COVID-19 restrictions.

Mayor Eric Adams said earlier on Wednesday that he was optimistic a vaccination mandate would eventually be phased out in New York City so unvaccinated employees like Irving could go back to their work without any restriction.

"Yes, I can't wait to get it done. ... I'm not going to get ahead of the science because I'm ready to get ahead of all of this and get back to a level of normalcy," Adams said when asked if he has a plan to remove the mandate and vaccine passport.

As one of the Nets' former "Big Three," Irving has played only 14 games, all on the road, this season, partly because he refused to get vaccinated. Not only did that whittle down the strength of the team but also became one of the reasons behind the trade of James Harden for Ben Simmons.

Irving averaged 24.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.5 triples at 36.8 percent in the games he played. If he can return as a "full-time player," he will greatly help the Nets.

"I will say that he's been extremely locked in," Nets head coach Steve Nash said during Wednesday's practice. "Kyrie's been great on the practice floor. He's been great in film sessions. He's been creating dialogue over aspects of our play. So I sense a real focus and urgency from him. And so if that's any indication, I would say he is getting excited at the prospect of being allowed to play in all our games and hopefully in the short term."

The Nets became more balanced between offense and defense on paper after acquiring Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond. However, their best player Kevin Durant is still recovering from a sprained MCL. It remains unclear when Simmons will be mentally and physically ready to play for his new team after refusing to play for the Philadelphia 76ers for even one minute this season.

All of the above reasons are why the Nets need Irving back to lead the team, especially when they are 31-28 and eighth in the Eastern Conference. According to NBA rules, the seventh to 10th teams of each conference will have to attend the play-in tournaments for playoff qualification. The Nets are 2.5 games behind sixth-placed Boston Celtics and 3.5 games above the Washington Wizards in 11th-place. With one of the hardest schedules for the rest of their season, the Nets can't afford to be careless in any of the future games.

However, Nash remains conservative about Irving's return to home games. "It would be great for us to have Kyrie available for all our games. Having said that, it's not really in our control, so we'll leave it up to the mayor and wait patiently," he said. 

"I think he's working towards being able to play in every game. So if the mandate is lifted, the expectation would be that he can play in all our games. I think that's what he's been waiting for and what he's excited about, and if the opportunity arises, the plan and the goal is to play every night."

The Nets are hosting the Celtics at home on Thursday in their first game since the NBA All-Star break.