The Kyrie Irving situation is garnering a lot of attention right now in Brooklyn. After the Nets announced that Irving will not be a part of the team until he gets vaccinated, Irving took to social media to defend himself, his position, and his right to choose whether he wishes to get vaccinated.
Irving has drawn a lot of criticism so far for his reluctance to get vaccinated, with many people pointing out that Irving’s hesitation is insensitive given the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how many people have suffered from it.
ESPN First Take’s Molly Qerim is the latest to send that message out there (3:20 mark). She questioned Kyrie’s motivations for wanting to be a voice for the voiceless when he wouldn’t disclose any information to the public (this statement was made before Irving’s most recent Instagram live session).
On top of that, she questioned why Irving is upset about people losing their jobs because of a vaccine mandate when several people have already lost their lives because of COVID-19.
“I just want to say when, Stephen A., you bring up the issue of hypocrisy, I think there’s two issues that stand out to me. One, he wants to be a voice for the voiceless, but we haven’t heard from him. So if you want to stand up, you have to speak out on these issues so we understand. We can’t just hear a story and we’re not even sure whether it’s true or not. And the other piece is that he’s upset about people losing their jobs but what about all the people that lost their lives during this pandemic. That’s another piece of hypocrisy. So those are the two issues I struggle with. I love a philanthropic heart but it just doesn’t seem to be consistent here.”
As things stand, Irving has not been vaccinated. And from the looks of his latest comments, he won’t be getting vaccinated any time soon. As long as Irving stays unvaccinated, he will not be a part of the Nets team.
For Brooklyn, their hope is this latest move will put some more pressure on Irving to get the vaccine. Kyrie’s presence in the team will only help their chances at winning an NBA championship. But for that, things will have to take a significant turn in the upcoming weeks.
