Kyrie Irving, the Eccentric NBA Player who Refuses to get Vaccinated
These are some of the eccentricities that make Kyrie Irving one of the most controversial players in the NBA.
Sometimes there are players with such strange quirks that it is impossible to take your eyes off them, for better or for worse. That is the case of Kyrie Irving and his refusal to the vaccine. Photo: IG-kyrieirving
LatinAmerican Post| Juan Manuel Londoño
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Leer en español: Kyrie Irving, el excéntrico basquetbolista que se niega a vacunarse
League personalities are also part of the appeal of a sport. Sometimes there are players with such strange quirks that it's impossible to take your eyes off them. That is the case of Kyrie Irving, the NBA player who has become popular lately for his refusal to get vaccinated.
Stubbornness or freedom?
Irving has insisted that he does not receive the vaccine because it is "best for his body" and that it is part of his "freedom of choice." However, it has been confirmed that he has recently followed conspiratorial Instagram accounts claiming that "secret societies" are implanting vaccines in a plan to connect blacks with a master computer for "a plan of Satan."
As punishment, Irving has been banned from playing for his team until he receives the doses. The situation has gained so much media coverage that even NBA commissioner Adam Silver (the highest authority within that league) had to comment on it.
"Frankly, I hope that Kyrie, despite his feelings about the vaccination, finally decides to get vaccinated, because I would love to see him play basketball this season, and I would love to see the Brooklyn Nets have their full complement of players on the court ."
Also read: The Reason For The Low Vaccination Rate In The Premier League
The truth is that no matter how personal this decision is, Irving's career has taken a serious blow for his refusal to get vaccinated. He has been criticized for being a "bad teammate", "selfish" and several of the most important sports media in the USA have questioned his continuity in the league.
A mind prone to conspiracies
It is not the first time that Irving has fallen prey to online conspiracies. Already in 2018 he was criticized for spreading the false idea that the earth is flat. "The Earth is flat … I tell you, it is right in front of our faces. They lie to us," he said in a podcast in February of that year.
The basketball player was criticized throughout that year for the claim, even claiming on one occasion that there is no true photo of planet Earth . "When I started to investigate on my own and realized that there is no real image of the Earth and we have not been back to the Moon since 1961 or 1969, it also becomes a conspiracy" he said in an episode of the Holding Court podcast.
Finally, in October of that year, Irving apologized and retracted this opinion, but the damage he caused, considering his millions of followers, was immense.
The master of controversy
Irving is also not afraid of being controversial. Another case in which he refused to go with the flow occurred in 2020, after receiving a penalty of $ 25,000 for repeatedly refusing to speak to the media, he posted a rather inflammatory message on Instagram. “I don't talk to Pawns. My attention worth more ”, said part of it, referring to the sports journalists who interview him.
The positive side
However, for all his negative eccentricities, Irvign has his good side. An example of this is your charitable work. He donated a house to George Floyd's family after he was assassinated. He also contributed $ 1.5 million to the WNBA players who boycotted the 2020 season and donated $ 323,000 to Feeding America, a non-profit organization that fights hunger in the United States. Irving is clearly a controversial player. Will he keep giving something to talk about or will his refusal to get vaccinated end his career?
