Kyrie Irving continues to be a major storyline given that the Brooklyn Nets star remains unable to play home games since he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, despite the fact restrictions have been lessened.
Irving attended Sunday's game at Barclays Center and sat courtside, moving freely without a mask, while the Nets hosted the rival New York Knicks. Irving reportedly joined him team in the locker room at halftime and was able to embrace Kevin Durant on the court after the win.
Durant was asked for his thoughts on Irving still not being able to play after Brooklyn's win and took a shot at New York Mayor Eric Adams.
"Yeah, I don't get it," Durant said, as seen on ESPN during halftime of Celtics-Mavericks. "It just feels like at this point now somebody is trying to make a statement or point to flex their authority. But everybody out here is looking for attention and that's what I feel like the mayor wants right now, some attention, you know?"
Well, ESPN analyst Mike Wilbon took great exception to that and went off on Durant.
"Kevin Durant is too aware and too plugged in to say something that impertinent. What's the point of that?," Wilbon said, as seen on ESPN. "Wants some attention? You want to call out somebody -- call out your teammate, tell him to get a shot. Because he's got plenty because he couldn't go on to grade school in metropolitan New York without vaccines.
"I mean, all these guys want to be so irresponsible, and not accountable enough to look at this dude tell him 'You want to play with us? Put a shot in your arm.' The vaccine is not about attention," Wilbon continued. "People died, hundreds of thousands of them from this virus. And you think the mayor of New York needs to attend to a basketball team's needs, your needs, before he needs to attend to the needs of a metropolitan area, the biggest in America? Are you kidding me?
"Again, Kevin Durant, there's some knuckleheads who will say stuff like this and I'd probably let it go. Kevin Durant is too smart and too plugged in. Everybody wants to tell you how woke they are and then I got to hear something like that. That's offensive. Stop."
Irving will only be able to play in four of the Nets' 14 remaining games should the mandate not be lifted.
