Despite a 60-point night from Kyrie Irving, the COVID-19 vaccine was once again brought out into the spotlight in the media room.
As he addressed a crowd of reporters on the subject of his teammate’s vaccination status, Kevin Durant assured the world that it’s not his job to convince anyone to do “what they do not want to do.”
(via Dave Early of ClutchPoints)
“Me and Kyrie had conversations about the vaccine and what it meant to him, meant to me,” Durant said. “At the end of the day I didn’t think it was my decision on what he wanted to do with the vaccine. I gave him how I felt about it and we talked about it, but that’s ultimately his decision.”
Kevin Durant shares a bit about the talks he's had with Kyrie Irving on vaccines:
-Doesn't think it's his own responsibility to push the issue with Irving.
-Didn't share his views months ago but has recently.
-Doesn't think Ky deserves extra criticism.#NetsWorld pic.twitter.com/xl3LooBbVG
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) March 16, 2022
This isn’t the first time Durant has had to address Kyrie’s vaccination status. Back in January, he was adamant about not trying to force his co-star to do anything.
“I’ve told him how much I want him to play,” said Durant. “But like I said, I’m not about to force somebody to get a vaccine. That’s not my thing. So he can play basketball? Nah, I’m not about to do that. We’ve had conversations about wanting him to be a part of the team and conversations about him being here full-time but that’s on his time. Whatever decision he wants to make, he’s gonna make. It’s on us to come in here and be professionals no matter what and do our jobs, from the owner to the equipment manager.”
Unfortunately for the Nets and Durant, Kyrie is still a part-tike player, and that is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future. Without him for home games, it will make the path a lot more difficult for the team.
Still, there is some optimism that things will change and every time Irving has a night like this, it just reminds the world of what he is capable of and how dangerous the Nets are when their two best stars are on the court.
