Reporter, HuffPost
Kyrie Irving’s reported explanation for his COVID-19 vaccine stance has been met with much criticism on Twitter.
Irving was benched by the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday over his refusal to receive the shot. Professional athletes in New York have to be vaccinated in order to play or practice in public venues. The Nets didn’t want a part-time player who was only able to play games on the road.
According to sources cited by The Athletic, Irving said he was not anti-vaccine, but was “upset that people are losing their job due to vaccine mandates.”
“To him, this is about a grander fight than the one on the court and Irving is challenging a perceived control of society and people’s livelihood,” per The Athletic.
“It is a decision that he believes he is capable to make given his current life dynamics,” the outlet added, citing a source who said the star guard “wants to be a voice for the voiceless.”
Critics called out the explanation.
“This is both Bull and Shit,” wrote ex-MSNBC and ESPN journalist Keith Olbermann.
This is both Bull and Shit https://t.co/aTcfg1vBpp
Others echoed the sentiment:
I am literally begging everyone, if you are going to cover this stuff, please take I dunno an hour and learn whether you’re buying an incredibly common anti-vax trope https://t.co/0mFgfhJQdI
nobody loses their job if they get vaccinated or agree to get tested weekly
but Irving is going to punt his career in order to stand up for people who won’t even get tested??
🤣
“Kyrie wants to be a voice for the voiceless,” which in some contexts absolutely would be admirable, but in this case misses the fact that anti-vaxxers are some of the loudest people in the whole dang world. https://t.co/WM8MR55TWv
Irving picks worse hills to die on than a bad general. https://t.co/vIjuhgtU6d
You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. https://t.co/GVIrgJgz9x pic.twitter.com/Vdd7zT8gbq
The galaxy is not big enough for this galaxy brain take https://t.co/7yF9XzJeol
This makes zero sense. https://t.co/wGNOw0vUxs
The guy who’s upset that people are losing their jobs due to vaccine mandates willingly loses his job because of vaccine mandates.
… that’ll show em. https://t.co/klrS5jFE9O
Reporter, HuffPost