Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving took to Twitter on Tuesday to blast COVID vaccine warrants that cost him nearly a third of the season last year – and a reported $11.4 million – as he refused to get the shot despite intense public pressure and derision. New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday ended the vaccination mandate for private employers, but not for city workers. They are still required to get injected. (On Sunday, I brought you the incredible story of how the Big Apple just fired over 850 teachers for not being vaccinated. This despite a teacher shortage. Absolutely ridiculous.)
Irving came out swinging:
If I can work and not be vaccinated, then all my brothers and sisters who are also not vaccinated should be able to do the same, without being discriminated against, reviled or fired. ♾????????
This forced vaccine/pandemic is one of the greatest HUMAN RIGHTS violations in history.
– A11Even (@KyrieIrving) September 20, 2022
One of the things that has infuriated so many people during the pandemic is the often contradictory and absurd executive orders issued by our authorities, whether it’s Michigan’s order banning the purchase of seeds (huh?) or California’s order to close the beaches. (How dumb is that in retrospect?)
Irving was not allowed to play at home in New York due to a vaccination mandate, but other players in the league were allowed to play for the season because their states had no such measures. repressive. In other words, Irving lost 29 games and over $11 million just because he signed with the Nets and not another team.
Absurdity is off the charts; Irving must have thought he woke up in a Monty Python movie. (He’s probably too young to know who they are, but you get the idea.)
Now that Irving is allowed onto the grounds of Barclays Center, he is not forgetting those left behind. He wrote in the tweet above:
If I can work and not be vaccinated, then all my brothers and sisters who are also not vaccinated should be able to do the same, without being discriminated against, reviled or fired. ♾????????
But then he really stands out, saying the pandemic mandates were a violation of human rights:
This forced vaccine/pandemic is one of the greatest HUMAN RIGHTS violations in history.
Although Irving suffered greatly from his decision to forgo authorized mRNA injections in emergencies, he always maintained that he was not “anti-vaccine”; he just thinks people should be able to make their own decisions without being forced to. ESPN gasbag Stephen A. Smith was among Irving’s harshest critics, saying in October 2021 that Irving’s stance was “one of the dumbest nonsense I’ve ever seen.”
Irving is not universally loved and probably has as many detractors as fans. Iconoclastic NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers also harshly criticizes the overpowering of the COVID mandate, as I wrote about last week. With Novak Djokovic, they opposed mandates at great expense. Many think Irving is crazy because he said the Earth was flat in the past and he has a reputation for being a tough player. He decided to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers after winning a championship because he didn’t like being in the shadow of LeBron James; he went to the Boston Celtics but quickly exhausted his welcome there, then he went to Brooklyn where he got entangled in that vaccine controversy.
Renowned vaccine reviewer and Substack author Alex Berenson reacted positively:
Amen. say what you like @KyrieIrvinghe’s not afraid to speak his mind https://t.co/88vSN2QIl6
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) September 20, 2022
My perspective is very similar to the one I wrote while covering Aaron Rodgers, who recently said California was “going to s***” because of tough COVID policies. Both Irving and Rodgers are a bit of a weirdo, and both have made mistakes in the past. Why I cheer them on is that despite their flaws, they say what they really mean in a time when so many people lurk in the shadows, terrified of saying the wrong thing, panicked at the idea that they could be “canceled”. Maybe it takes someone a little eccentric to pull away from the pack of sheep and say, “Look, folks, the emperor doesn’t wear clothes.”
