Kyrie Irving is speaking out about his decision to remain unvaccinated.
Due to his personal choice, the Brooklyn Nets announced they would not let Kyrie play this season earlier this week.
On Instagram Live, Kyrie spoke on the matter. When talking about the financial loss, he said, “The financial consequences, I know I do not want to even do that. But it is reality that in order to be in New York City, in order to be on a team, I have to be vaccinated. I chose to be unvaccinated, and that was my choice, and I would ask you all to just respect that choice.” He went on to say,
“I am going to just continue to stay in shape, be ready to play, be ready to rock out with my teammates and just be part of this whole thing. This is not a political thing; this is not about the NBA, not about any organization. This is about my life and what I am choosing to do.”
Later on he said, “This is my life. I get to do whatever I want with this, this is one body that I get here. And you are telling me what to do with my body. … This has everything to do with what is going on in our world. And I am being grouped into something that is bigger than just the game of basketball.”
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Initially; the Nets were preparing to start the season without Kyrie playing home games due to the New York City health mandates. He would have missed 41 games and was granted permission to practice with the team at the NY facility. However, the decision makes Kyrie ineligible for any team activity until he complies.