You knew it was coming.
Following the report that Brooklyn Nets star point guard Kyrie Irving will be allowed to return to the team as a “part-time” player — even as he remains unvaccinated — you knew the talking heads in sports media would not be pleased.
Skip Bayless of Fox Sports unsurprisingly hopped on board the train of lecturing the Nets for allowing Irving to return, and slamming Irving for putting his teammates at risk on Monday’s airing of “Undisputed.”
“To me, that’s shameful,” Bayless said to Shannon Sharpe. “You thought it was shameful what Kyrie did to this team to begin with … The crushing irony of this whole development is that he betrayed this team over COVID, and then they crawled back to him because of COVID. And so the very thing he refused to protect himself and his team against, has now wrecked the whole basketball team to the point they said ‘we got no other choice, we gotta ask him to come back.’”
“As a society, we’re up against a variant that is the most contagious yet, by far. Maybe not the deadliest, but most contagious. And Kyrie is unvaccinated … he will be an enormous threat to their team. Which is why he’ll have to be tested every day, and kept in all kinds of mask protocols … He’s going to be a huge threat while he also can be a godsend.”
Sharpe said that while he wished Irving would get vaccinated, he didn’t have a problem with the Nets allowing Irving to return to the team.
Due to his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Irving has yet to play in a game this season. Per New York requirements, most individuals are unable to enter “certain covered premises” without having at least one dose of the vaccine. The requirement applies to Barclays Center, where the Nets play their home games.
On Friday, Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks announced a change in thinking when it comes to Irving, allowing him to play in road games in cities in which he is eligible.
“Several months ago, we made a decision that was based around what was best for the team,” Marks said via CBS Sports. “What was best for the team at that point was continuity. And I think we all see that continuity right now over the course of the last week and whatever the future looks like may be out of the window for a while, and we’re going to navigate that as best we can.”
Brooklyn has been hit hard by COVID-19 over the past few days, with 10 players in the NBA’s Health and Safety protocols on Sunday, including superstars Kevin Durant and James Harden. Irving was placed in the protocols on Saturday.
“At the end of the day, we’re sitting here faced with a roster that has been decimated over the course of the last several days,” Marks continued. “And I’m forced to make decisions, and I don’t make those decisions by myself — we collaborate, like I mentioned before — but in essence, this is the best decision for this team at this juncture right now, with what we’re dealing with.”
Irving explained his reasons for remaining unvaccinated in an October Instagram video, saying that “nobody should be forced to do anything with their bodies.”
“What would you do if you felt uncomfortable going into the season when you were promised that you have exemptions or that you didn’t have to be forced to get the vaccine? This wasn’t an issue before the season started,” Irving said in an Instagram video. “This wasn’t something that I foresaw coming where I prepared for it and had a chance to strategize on what was going to be best for me and my family.”
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].
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