The ball is in Kyrie Irving’s court, both figuratively and literally in terms of his 2021-22 NBA season. After a series of absences from the Nets last year due to personal and family matters, Irving is now at a crossroad in his career. To vax or not to vax, that is the question…
After New York closed loopholes regarding the vaccination status of athletes and performers, Irving, easily the most high profile NBA player not currently vaccinated, was faced with either compliance or the very real possibility that he may miss the upcoming NBA season.
While some speculated that Irving could theoretically play in games outside New York state, Nets GM Sean Marks squashed that notion when he announced that “Given the evolving nature of the situation and after thorough deliberation, we have decided Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant”. Addressing the media today, Nets head coach Steve Nash referred to Brooklyn’s decision “difficult” but “sound”.
Which means Kyrie has a decision before him: take the shot, and join his teammates in their quest to bring New York City it’s first NBA title since 1973, or sit out a season in which his team is currently the betting favourite to hoist the championship trophy.
While some talking heads will debate whether Irving should get vaccinated, or whether he has a god given choice, constitutional right, or some other ridiculous excuse not to get vaccinated, the fact that this is even a debate is a sad reflection on where we are as a society at the moment. When pseudoscience pushing “influencers” hold more sway over public opinion than peer reviewed papers, and genuine scientists, it’s a scathing indictment of our education system.
The amount of self proclaimed epidemiologists amongst people who struggled to pass high school science classes is truly astounding. Yet here we have Irving, whose previously mentioned absences from his teammates last year were for seemingly noble causes (BLM, mental health etc.) is now going to reinforce the ridiculous “anti-vax” stance knowing full well that he’s a role model to tens of thousands of impressionable youth around the world. Essentially throwing support behind conspiracy theorists.
The science is out there, the data is out there. If you want to discredit 1,000 papers to side with the one unverified YouTube claim that flies in the face of everything the scientific community has worked so hard on over the last year and a half go nuts. But if you’re going to throw away a promising NBA career, at the peak of your powers, only 29 years old getting paid millions of dollars to play in a league you’ve worked your entire life to reach over unfounded claims, then you’re an idiot.
How many people around the world lost loved ones during the pandemic? How many lives have been irreparably damaged because of lost jobs, and medical complications since the onset of COVID? And here you are, a multi-millionaire athlete throwing it all away for no discernable reason other than “I don’t know what’s in that!”. Do we really want to litigate the thousands of things you put in your body yearly which you don’t know the molecular components of? Or the fact that you’ve been vaccinated dozens of times in your life already and you’ve never had issues with those shots. But of course they didn’t have TikTok videos saying they were dangerous…
Last year it was fair to question whether Irving wanted to continue playing basketball at the NBA level as his head and heart clearly weren’t in it. And if you want to quit because you no longer have the passion or the drive that’s required to compete at the highest level of your sport, be my guest. I won’t fault you for it. If it’s too mentally draining on you then step away from the game. But to use “vaccination” as a reason to leave is a cop out. Retire, or play, but don’t try to use your lack of understanding of scientific concepts as a way to justify your decision.
You’re better than that Kyrie, and your fans deserve better as well.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner