Kyrie Irving has been known to hold some strange beliefs.
From his “flat earth” talks, to his media boycott incident, the Nets superstar has been at the center of several wild discussions and theories about the world.
Apparently, he’s at it again.
In a piece by Rolling Stone, it’s revealed that the multiple-time All-Star has been showing some support behind some questionable beliefs regarding the COVIC-19 vaccine.
A spokeswoman for Irving declined to respond to a list of questions regarding his vaccination and playing status, and Irving did not immediately respond to a message from Rolling Stone. But as teams return to pre-season training camps next week, fifty to sixty NBA players have yet to receive a single vaccine dose, league sources tell RS. Most are considered merely reluctant skeptics. Some of the holdouts, however, amount to their own shadow roster of anti-vaxxers mounting a behind-the-scenes resistance to Covid protocols — and the truth.
[Kyrie] Irving, who serves as a vice president on the executive committee of the players’ union, recently started following and liking Instagram posts from a conspiracy theorist who claims that “secret societies” are implanting vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for “a plan of Satan.” This Moderna microchip misinformation campaign has spread across multiple NBA locker rooms and group chats, according to several of the dozen-plus current players, Hall-of-Famers, league executives, arena workers and virologists interviewed for this story over the past week.
Ass the new season approaches, the NBA continues to take a hard look at their COVID-19 protocols.
While most eligible players have already taken the shot, Kyrie is just one of several prominent players who have resisted protection from the virus.
This month, league officials caught a break: Two of America’s most progressive cities, New York and San Francisco, would require pro athletes to show proof of one Covid-19 vaccination dose to play indoors, except with an approved medical or religious exemption. Which meant that one of the NBA’s biggest stars — one known for being receptive to conspiratorial beliefs — would be under heavy pressure to get a shot. And if Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving could be convinced to take the vaccine, then maybe, just maybe, the whole league could create a new kind of bubble together.
When asked directly about Irving’s vaccination status — or his plans to change it — multiple people familiar with his thinking declined to answer directly. But one confidant and family member floated to Rolling Stone the idea of anti-vaxx players skipping home games to dodge the New York City ordinance… or at least threatening to protest them, until the NBA changes its ways.
Needless to say, things are getting pretty tense throughout the league, as an ongoing battle against COVID-19, and the vaccination, continues to unfold behind the scenes.
It’s anyone’s guess when, or how, this will end.
