Do-Gooders Violently Impose Cult Belief on NBA: Healthy, Symptomless Athletes Like Kyrie Irving Might Be Sick So They are Banned but Vaxxed Players who Can and Will Transmit COVID are Allowed to Play
/From [HERE] Kyrie Irving won’t play or practice for the Brooklyn Nets this season until he gets vaccinated, the team said Tuesday, a move that will increase the pressure on the NBA superstar in what has quickly become one of the world’s most consequential Covid-19 workplace standoffs.
Irving is currently ineligible to play home games for the Nets, the heavy favorites to win the championship in the NBA season that begins next week, under a New York City order that requires proof of vaccination to enter an indoor sports arena like the Barclays Center.
He was cleared to practice last week when the city determined that the Nets’ practice facility was a private office building. But Irving was still staring at the possibility of being a part-time NBA player, missing every home game and rejoining his team for road games, until Tuesday’s decision from Nets owner Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks.
Now the ban from the Nets has effectively given him an ultimatum that will force him to choose between his desire to remain unvaccinated and more than $15 million in potential salary.
“Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose,” Marks said in a statement released by the team. “Currently the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability.”
The ball is now in Irving’s court, but time is running out: The Nets open the NBA season with a rematch against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks next Tuesday.
“The hope is that we’ll have Kyrie back,” Marks said. “We’ll welcome him back with open arms under a different set of circumstances.”
Irving has declined to comment on his vaccination status, insisting it was a private matter. His spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. [MORE]