Kyrie Irving Is a Far Cry from Muhammad Ali
The Brooklyn Nets announced that star shooting guard Kyrie Irving would not join the team this season—which starts on October 18th—until he’s able to be “a full participant.” That means no practices, no games, and of course missing at least half of his game checks, amounting to millions of dollars in losses.
The championship-winning guard took to Instagram last night stating that he is neither pro- or anti-vaccine but that he’s choosing what’s best for him. “I’m not going to be used as a person within this agenda,” he said on IG Live. “I’m just saying it should not be divided amongst all of us, it should be understood among us… this is not about the Nets, not my teammates, the organization… it’s not politics, it’s not any one thing.”
Before he ever got on Live, sports pundits were quick to say that Kyrie should not be considered a martyr, though it doesn’t seem like he ever positioned himself as one. Regardless, on Thursday morning, former NBA star Stephon Marbury compared his struggle against the state’s vaccine mandates to the political struggles of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, with many folks clowning the ridiculousness of that analogy while others stood in agreement.