Brooklyn Nets basketball player Kyrie Irving is refusing to get vaccinated. For this, his team isn’t allowing him to play.

Because New York City has mandated everyone must be vaccinated to go to movies, bars, night clubs, restaurants, concerts, and…basketball games, the original plan was for Irving to only play while on the road with the Nets. Of course, this would also prevent him from playing against the New York Knicks. Now, the team says he can’t play because they want to build unity and chemistry and they can’t do it with a part-time player.

Kyrie Irving now says he’s not anti-vaccine, but he’s taking a stand for those who are losing their jobs over vaccine mandates. Originally, he wouldn’t disclose his status. Here’s the thing, Kyrie: It’s not a protest if you don’t tell anyone what you’re protesting. What you’ve done is discovered a new line of bullshit to cover your selfishness. If Kyrie actually cared about other people, he’d get vaccinated which would prevent him from spreading covid and would allow him to help his team win a championship.

Also, nobody is losing their job over a vaccine mandate. If they have a legitimate reason, they can skip it. If they don’t have a good reason (being an asshole isn’t acceptable), they can get tested once a week.

Kyrie, is it the needle? Is that the reason you won’t get vaccinated? Let me help you out there. I am the biggest scaredy cat and coward of needles. I hate shots. Needles make me freeze. I have almost passed out from having a little blood drawn. And, I have taken the vaccine…twice. I plan to go for a third one in December. If I can do it, you can do it. And honestly, you don’t feel the needle. And after you get the shot, you’re probably not going to feel the coronavirus…and if you do, it’s greatly diminished.

The Fox News crowd and other assorted MAGAt anti-vaxxers are cheering Kyrie on. It’s OK he’s not being a team player because we celebrate individualism in this country. What he’s doing is standing up for what he believes in. He’s standing up for others. He’s standing against unnecessary mandates and procedures. He’s standing against tyranny and oppression. He’s fighting an evil government and unfair system. Now, the bad people trying to control him aren’t going to let him play the game he loves and will ruin his career. They’re taking away his paycheck and livelihood.

That same crowd will tell you that Kaepernick is being selfish. He’s not being a team player. He’s greedy and stubborn for refusing to go along with a league mandate in standing for the national anthem. He should allow the league to control him. He shouldn’t be protesting, fighting for equality, or pointing out stuff that make white people uncomfortable. How dare he speak out against the government and a racist justice system. He deserves to have his career and livelihood taken away from him. Donald Trump said, “Fire that sonofabitch.”

Jon Gruden’s emails revealed there’s a very racist culture in the NFL. It’s like when Donald Trump was “elected” in 2016, and a lot of white people said, “I think America might be racist.” Duh. We already knew America was racist and if you are just now starting to realize the NFL has a culture of racism, then you haven’t been paying attention.

If you don’t believe the NFL, without one black team owner, doesn’t have a culture of racism, then answer one question for me: What team does Colin Kaepernick play for? Forget that. What team has invited him for a tryout?

Currently among the 32 teams in the NFL, there are only three black head coaches and five black general managers while black players make up about 60 percent of the league. The NFL is racist. We don’t need Jon Gruden to tell us that, maybe just to remind us.

Colin Kaepernick’s issue is race. Kyrie Irving’s is not. Kyrie just became white conservative conspiracy theorist’s new black friend.

Colin Kaepernick protested against a justice system that oppressed people for being black. Kyrie is protesting something that doesn’t exist, oppression against anti-vaxxers. He’s protesting against the vaccine, something that saves lives and the economy. He’s protesting against getting back to normal.

Kyrie Irving wants to play basketball again in Brooklyn’s Barclay Center. Do you know why fans can now attend games again in all NBA arenas, including the Barclay Center? it’s because we have the vaccine. If Kyrie can’t appreciate the irony of taking a stance against vaccines while trying to play in an arena only opened because of the vaccines, then he probably believes in vaccine microchips too.

Between Colin Kaepernick and Kyrie Irving, one of these men sacrificed his career by using his high profile to speak against racial injustice. The other guy is full of bullshit.

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