IS THE NBA ATTEMPTING TO BLACKBALL KYRIE?!?
At 29 years old Nets’ guard Kyrie Irving has proven himself to be one of the most entertaining and skilled players in NBA history. His dazzling handle, magnificent finishing, and his jaw dropping ability to score has made him a household name for fans of the NBA. However it seems that the NBA may have set out to stain his name.
Due to the uproar of the Coronavirus many workplaces across the country have put in place vaccine mandates to potentially establish a safer workspace hindering the NBA. New York City was one of the areas who put in place a vaccine mandate. This later led to news that the GM of the Brooklyn Nets Sean Marks would ban Kyrie Irving from participating in any team activities for not receiving a vaccination. This news sparked a major uproar throughout the media. It seemed like everyone in the sports world wanted to chime in on Kyrie and his situation. This would later lead to additional news that the Brooklyn Nets would not offer Kyrie a contract extension.
Kyrie would eventually come to his Instagram live and speak on his stance on the vaccine. He stated that his issue was not with the NBA, or the vaccine, but to the mandates requirements that would cost employees against the vaccine to lose their jobs. He verbally accepted his consequences and made it clear he wanted to be “the voice for the voiceless” then also stated “I am doing what’s best for me”. This seemed to have led to the conspiracy of the NBA blackballing Kyrie Irving.
After Kyrie’s statement it seemed once again that everyone had something to chime in. Stephen A Smith the most popular commentator in the sports world. Has constantly used his platform each week to tear down Kyrie’s character labeling him as selfish, a cancer to his team, and declaring that he should retire. Most recently he used a tribute to the late Kobe Bryant on the anniversary of his passing to criticize Kyries’ character once again. Kobe and Kyrie publicly displayed a mentor to mentee relationship and Kyrie has spoken dearly to the impact Kobe Bryant has had on his life and how close they were. But the biggest name on ESPN makes it clear he still has no problem vocalizing his hate for Kyrie Irving.
This is not the only instance that warranted this conspiracy. Earlier in the season the NBA released its top 75 a list of the best 75 players in NBA history. Kyrie Irving was not on this list. Most fans took to social media to discuss how they felt the Nets’ guard was snubbed but instead what they stumbled across were articles that proposed that Kyrie was originally on the top 75 list. Fans advocated that they felt the only reason Kyrie was not on the final list was because of his stance on Covid-19 supporting the conspiracy of the NBAs’ attempt to blackball Kyrie.
This would not be the first time the conspiracy of a player being blackballed has been debated. In the 90s a Muslim player by the name Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf felt he was blackballed after he refused to stand for the National Anthem. He claimed that after he took his stance that teams would “change his minutes” to “mess up his rhythm” during his prime which would lead to his career being cut short.
Kyrie has most recently been allowed to rejoined his team and participate in arenas where vaccine mandates are not set. Making him the first part-time player since the 1960s. Which has led to more discussion and more backlash to Kyrie but he has accepted his stance and what comes with it so with Kyrie “crawling” into his prime as a player so we will see how the rest of this narrative will transpire.