Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving posted on Twitter, Tuesday, to slam the COVID vaccination requirements, which cost him nearly one-third of his season last year – and an estimated $11.4 million–as he refused the shot despite public opposition and adulation. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has ended the private-employer vaccination requirement on Tuesday, however, it's not applicable to the city's workers. They're nevertheless required to receive the vaccine. (On the weekend, I told you the shocking story of how the Big Apple has just removed over 800 teachers for not having vaccines. The reason for this is a shortage of teachers. It's absolutely ridiculous.)
Irving was out swinging.
One thing that has irritated a lot of people in the midst of the pandemic has been the frequently contradictory, absurd laws issued by our officials, for example, Michigan's ban on the buying of seeds (huh? ) or California's decision to shut down beaches. (How stupid is that?)
Irving was not permitted to play at home within New York City because of an immunization mandate, however other players across the league were able to play away during the season due to the fact that their states didn't have similar repressive measures. Also, Irving lost 29 games and over $11 million due to the fact Irving was signed by the Nets and not a different team.
The absurdity is beyond the realm of imagination; Irving must have thought that he was in the middle of a Monty Python movie. (He's likely too young to be aware of the name of the characters but you'll get the idea.)
Now that Irving has been allowed to play onto the courts at Barclays Center, he's not going to forget the ones left in the dust. Irving wrote in the previous tweet:
“If I am able to work while being unvaccinated, then my siblings and brothers who aren't vaccinated too should be in the same position without fear of being targeted, demonized or fired.”
Then he gets his guns out declaring that the pandemic mandates were a violation in human rights:
“This forced Vaccine/Pandemic is one of the largest violations of HUMAN rights in the history of mankind.”
While Irving has suffered a lot for his decision to not take the Emergency Use Authorized mRNA shots, he's maintained the fact that he's not ” anti-vaccine” He just believes that it's important for people to be able to decide for themselves without being pressured to. ESPN gasoline snob Stephen A. Smith was one of Irving's most ardent critics when he said the following month that his position to forgo the vaccine was “some of the stupidest nonsense I've ever seen.”
Irving isn't universally adored and is likely to have the same number of detractors as he has fans. Another icon of the past, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers is also harshly disapproving of COVID mandates that are too big which I wrote about the issue last week. He, as well as Novak Djokovic, have been vocal against COVID directives with a heavy price. A lot of people believe Irving is a liar because Irving has spoken about his belief in the earth not being round, and has been criticized as a tough player. Irving decided to leave his team the Cleveland Cavaliers after winning a championship, citing that he wasn't happy having to live in LeBron James' shadow; Irving joined the Boston Celtics. Boston Celtics but quickly wore out his welcome in Boston after which he moved to Brooklyn which is where he's been caught up in this controversy regarding vaccines.
A noted critic of vaccines, Substack's creator Alex Berenson reacted positively:
“My view is like the one I made in writing about Aaron Rodgers, who recently declared his team in California is “going to be s ***” because of the harsh COVID laws. The two of them, Irving as well as Rodgers, are somewhat odd and have committed mistakes before. The reason I am cheering for both of them is that, despite their shortcomings, they're expressing what they truly believe in an era when many people are from the public eye, scared of saying something wrong and scared that they'll be “canceled.” Maybe it requires someone who is quirky to stand out from the crowd of sheep and say, “look, folks, the emperor is not actually wearing any clothes.””
