{"id":144281,"date":"2021-10-14T20:59:20","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T20:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=144281"},"modified":"2021-10-14T22:00:40","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T22:00:40","slug":"superstar-anti-vaxxers-defiant-message-to-critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=144281","title":{"rendered":"Superstar anti-vaxxer's defiant message to critics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyrie Irving <\/a>said he didn't want to lose salary or a chance to compete for a championship with the Brooklyn Nets, but was doing \u201cwhat's best for me\u201d by refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n

The Nets decided Tuesday that Irving wouldn't be with the team because he isn't eligible to play in home games,<\/a> where a New York mandate requires professional athletes on one of the city's teams to be vaccinated to practice or play in public venues.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Rugby league Immortal Norm Provan dies aged 88<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Kyrie Irving's vaccine 'conspiracy' puts $34m salary up in the air<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>West Indian legends Curtly Ambrose and Chris Gayle feuding<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking on Instagram Live, Irving said he loved basketball and wasn't going to retire.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am doing what\u2019s best for me. I know the consequences here and if it means that I\u2019m judged and demonised for that, that\u2019s just what it is,\u201d Irving said. \u201cThat\u2019s the role I play, but I never wanted to give up my passion, my love, my dream just over this mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irving<\/a> would have been able to practice with the Nets and play in road games outside New York. The Nets will pay him for those but he is giving up about half of his $35 million salary by missing the home games.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dr_JLJohnson\/status\/1448736200714604546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/ClayTravis\/status\/1448703002223648768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo what? It\u2019s not about the money,\u201d Irving said. \u201cIt's not always about the money. It\u2019s about choosing what\u2019s best for you. You think I really want to lose money?\u201d<\/p>\n

Irving said he supported people who were and weren't vaccinated and expressed appreciation for doctors. The All-Star guard didn't give any indication that he was against being vaccinated, just that he was deciding not to.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, I\u2019m going to repeat this. This is not about the Nets, this is not about the organisation, it\u2019s not about the NBA, it\u2019s not politics,\u201d Irving said. "It\u2019s not any one thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just about the freedom of what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Irving hasn't spoken to reporters since the Nets' media day on Sept. 27, when he appeared via Zoom and asked for privacy when questioned about his vaccination status.<\/p>\n

The Nets are championship contenders and Irving said he didn't want to miss the opportunity he has with them. General manager Sean Marks said the team would gladly welcome Irving back under the right circumstances, and Irving made clear he was going to play again.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not retiring and no I\u2019m not going and leaving this game like this,\u201d Irving said. \u201cThere's still so much more work to do and there still so many other (youngsters) to inspire, because I know they want to be better than me.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kyrie Irving said he didn't want to lose salary or a chance to compete for a championship with the Brooklyn Nets, but was doing \u201cwhat's […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144281"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144283,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144281\/revisions\/144283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}