When Kyrie Irving decided not to get vaccinated last fall, it came with a lot of blowback for Uncle Drew. Besides having to live with the constant assault and bombardment of angry Americans, Irving also had to face the reality of letting his own team down.
In the end, Irving’s part-time status tore the team apart and evaporated any trust between both sides.
While getting the COVID-19 vaccine is a personal choice for everyone, Irving’s decision not to get it (for reasons that are still unclear) essentially equated to him turning his back on his team.
To this day, it’s an issue that Stephen A. Smith still holds against the All-Star guard, which he explained on the ‘I Am Athlete’ podcast:
“Kyrie is a spectacular talent, who works hard, works on his craft, conscientious brother, heart’s in the right place off the court, wants to do good things for people, wants to be helpful, not a bad person, is all. But he’s got something that all of y’all can speak on.”
“You got certain cats that everything is OK as long as they do it on their own terms. If you ask them to do it on somebody else’s terms, they got a problem with it, which I respect when you’re an entrepreneur. But when you got your hand off somebody else’s money, you gotta capitulate to something. You can’t just sit up here and do what you wanna do!”
“Kyrie’s the reason KD (Kevin Durant) in Brooklyn. Kyrie’s the reason (coach) Steve Nash in Brooklyn. … Kyrie and them the reason that Kenny Atkinson is out as the head coach. Brooklyn lays out the carpet for you. If I got you, and you, and you to do something, I’m in. Because y’all here because of me! That was my issue. I wasn’t no talking about no damn vaccine! I’m talking about, ‘Yo, you know what this is. You know you brought this all together!’ I wasn’t talking about no damn vaccine! I’m talking about, ‘Yo, you know what this is. You know you brought this all together!’”
Stephen A. has been among the most vocal critics of Irving/ From the jump, he got on the guy for putting political statements and messaging over being there for his own teammates.
While Mr. Smith is far from a perfect analyst, he has been spot on with his Irving takes. No matter how talented the guy is, not showing up to work is indefensible and inexcusable when you’re making so much money to play the game of basketball.
Hopefully, this season, Irving takes a minute to reflect on his mistakes and avoid repeating them again.
