All along Kyrie IrvingDuring the NBA era, the current star point guard of the Brooklyn Nets used his platform to promote many Fun but absurd conspiracy theories. During a 2017 maintenance, Irving has confirmed that he is a flat-land – a position that he suggested later aimed to provoke an “open conversation”, ultimately advising everyone to “do their own research” on the shape of the earth. And even though more than 700,000 in the United States have died in the ongoing pandemic, Irving, who refuses to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, appears to be in the “do your own research” crowd. Irving’s “personal choice” against the vaccine could see him spending the entire next NBA season off the field as the Brooklyn Nets won’t allow him to train or play with the team until he does. is not vaccinated.

There are a number of virulent anti-vaccines in the league ranks, but Irving, as the biggest star among them, has the most to lose. In a statement to reporters on the matter, Irving said his opposition to the vaccine was a matter of confidentiality. “Everything will be released on schedule and once we get that sorted out,” Irving noted at the end of last month. “I am above all a human being. And obviously, living in this public sphere, there are just a lot of questions about what’s going on in Kyrie’s world. And I think I would just like to keep this private and manage it the right way with my team and move forward with a plan. “(Tuesday, anonymous sources claims to Athletic that Irving is “not anti-vaccine” but is “upset that people are losing their jobs because of vaccination warrants.”) If Irving puts his anti-COVID vaccine stance ahead of his team for the entire season, that could cost him over $ 17 million, or about half of his annual salary with the Nets.

Over the past few weeks, Irving has received very little sympathy in the national sports media, with many high profile commentators criticizing him for abandoning his team in favor of his own interests. “I’m sorry, if you can’t take a vaccine that over 6.2 billion people around the world have already taken, trying to pretend you think there’s some sort of conspiracy going on,” host ESPN Stephen A. Smith noted during an interview with CNN last night, “and you want to be this defiant and leave the rest of your team hanging out … as far as I’m concerned, to hell with you.”

Still, Irving is winning over right-wing fans, as the conservative media has now bred him as his new darling in the revolution for “medical autonomy.” Among his new supporters is the senator Ted Cruz, who called on the Houston Rockets to trade for Irving, given that employee vaccination warrants are banned in Texas. In a subsequent comment, Cruz accused the corporate media of trying to silence and coerce Irving. “” If tyrannical politicians ask you to take an injection, you have NO RIGHTS TO MEDICAL CONFIDENTIALITY. You are a sheep and you have to obey obediently, ”Cruz tweeted. “It’s disgusting, condescending and false. Kyrie shows incredible courage. And while Cruz has frequently denounced the league and its star players for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, the Texas Republican has let all the anti-vax players in the NBA know he’s on their side. “I’m with Kyrie Irving. I am with Andrew Wiggins. I am with Bradley Beal. I am with Jonathan Isaac,” he wrote. “#YourBodyYourChoice.”

Cruz then shared an article written by a right-wing radio host. Jesse Kelly, who linked Irving’s position to a group of Southwest Airlines pilots who Tucker carlson claims all complained about the company’s planned accession to a federal vaccine mandate. (the new CEO of Southwest, Bob Jordan, noted the walkout rumors were “categorically false.” “)” What is happening right now is important. I promise you the system is afraid ”, Kelly wrote. “We are FINALLY seeing a real setback from parts of the country that the system did not expect. It will hang on. Well done to Kyrie Irving. And the pilots of Southwest Airlines. They are starting something. However, Kelly was quick to let his followers know that he did not support Black Lives Matter even though he did support anti-vax NBA players. “I stopped watching the NBA when it was taken over by the #BlackLivesMatter Communists. And I don’t like Kyrie Irving, ”he added. “But I’m an adult who understands that we are fighting and that we don’t have time to wait for the perfect ship to fight these people. We take what we have.

Jason Whitlock, sports commentator and host at Glenn beck‘s Blaze network, also compared Irving’s situation to the Southwest Airlines controversy, Tweeter, “Too bad Kyrie doesn’t work for Southwest Airlines. He would have colleagues with balls. In a strange follow-up column, Whitlock, who is black, then praised Irving for “coming out of the closet” and joining the “black men. [who] escape the cages that matriarchy, the LGBTQ movement and liberal orthodoxy have built to tame, shelter and emasculate us over the past six decades.

In the same way, Fox and his friends host Brian Kilmeade made sure to highlight Irving’s run as a way to question whether black Americans would continue to support Joe biden in light of the federal vaccine mandates he has passed, saying, “Kyrie Irving in New York City won’t be able to play unless he gets vaccinated.” Does President Biden want to take over his base, the African-American base that propelled him to the White House? He asked at the beginning of the month. colleague of Kilmeade Will Cain, who co-hosts the weekend edition of Fox and his friends, expressed his shock earlier this month that “awakened” NBA players will now “go against the grain … fight for critical thinking and individuality and stand up against popular thought.” On Newsmax, host John bachman described Irving as “defending medical autonomy, just as many of these pilots are supposed to do in Southwest,” while Corrin Clark, a guest of the network, said Tuesday that she was “happy that some of these athletes are speaking out. They are the least at risk for COVID, and they actually lose their jobs because they won’t get a vaccine that will wear off in six months. »Although the host Newsmax Rob finnerty letting the public know his personal disdain for Irving – who is an outspoken supporter of racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement – by calling him “one of the least likable guys in the NBA,” the conservative expert also noted that he does “support him 10 000%” with regard to his position on the jab “because it is not American to have to be vaccinated”.