Kyrie Irving Maintains Vaccine Stance, Though Injured Nets Could Use Him

The Brooklyn Nets are without Kevin Durant after the star sprained his MCL on Saturday, and he reportedly will be sidelined for four to six weeks. The Nets also will continue to be without Kyrie Irving in home games, because even when his team could use him most, Irving maintained that he would not get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Irving is unable to play in home games for the Nets because of vaccine requirements in New York City. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Irving said the loss of one of the team’s biggest stars — and at least their most consistently available one — wouldn’t convince him to get a shot.

“Kev’s gonna heal,” he said, via Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. “Kev’s gonna be OK, and we’re gonna have to deal with that as his teammates, but in terms of where I am with my life outside of this, I stay rooted in my decision, and that’s just what it is.”

“We live in a real world,” he continued. “This is great to be able to do this. I’m grateful for the opportunity. I love playing with my teammates. I love playing on the Nets, but I’ve already been away enough time to think about this, to process this, to be able to make my decision, stand strong, understand that people are gonna agree and some people are gonna disagree.”

The Nets originally did not allow Irving to participate in any team activities, but in December began allowing him to practice with the team and play in road games.

Listen, we knew Irving was selfish for refusing to get vaccinated in the first place. While his refusal proved he wasn’t interested in the well-being of the world at large, this latest development shows he couldn’t care less about his team, either.