BY: Kendra Carpenter
NBC News recently stated that professional basketball player Kyrie Irving, who is the guard for the Brooklyn Nets, will not be allowed to play or practice with the team until he is vaccinated, even with him being one of the most important players on the team. Sean Marks, who is the coach of the team, wants Irving to be completely vaccinated to play, and the Barclays Center in New York has a stern rule that you must have at least one COVID-19 vaccine in order to enter the indoor gyms. Marks stated that the team has no issues with Irving making the choice to not get vaccinated.
In my opinion, the player should be allowed to play, vaccinated or not. He is a very important piece to the team and should not be penalized for his choice not to get vaccinated. Right now, the world is heavy on vaccinations and forgetting that we still have rights and freedom, so forcing the vaccination is very unnecessary. The coach is not allowing part-time playing for anyone on the team. The Nets are set to win the NBA title with stars such as Kevin Durant who is vaccinated, and James Harden who is also vaccinated.
A Berkeley alum told NBC News that “championship goals for the season will not change, and in order for all goals to be met, each player on the team and each member of the organization should pull in the same direction.” In my opinion, that means all should be vaccinated, and freedom of speech and rights do not matter. Irving tweeted on October 9, “I am protected by God and are my people. We stand together.” 31.4k people like the tweet, and I must say that I agree with the professional player on his views and his thoughts. The Nets will begin playing on October 19. NBC tried to reach back out for another statement Tuesday, but Irving could not be reached. The NBA stated that players who choose not to follow health guidelines will not be paid.