The firm position of Brooklyn star Kyrie Irving on the issue of vaccination against Covid-19 is no longer to be proven. The 30-year-old point guard even just revealed on the Nets’ pre-season Media Day on Monday that he had turned down a four-year extension ahead of the 2020-21 season due to his decision not to play. not get vaccinated. “I gave up four more years, for 100 and a few million by maintaining my decision not to get vaccinated,” he said.
“To sign such a contract, to get vaccinated or not to get vaccinated… There is a level of uncertainty about your future, so I had to face this possibility of losing my job for this decision”, a- he said on Monday. Kyrie Irving was forced to miss home games in Brooklyn, until the end of March 2022, because the health protocol in force until then in New York prohibited the unvaccinated from entering a gym.
Irving evokes an “ultimatum” for his vaccination
The player added that he had received an “ultimatum” to get vaccinated if he wanted his contract extended. “We were supposed to have all of that sorted out before training camp last season. And it just didn’t happen, because of my refusal. I just had to live with it. It was a hard pill to swallow,” he insisted. Nets manager Sean Marks refuted the idea of an “ultimatum” imposed on the player: “It’s just about wanting people who are reliable, present and responsible. All of us, the staff, the players, the coaches. It’s not about giving someone an ultimatum to get vaccinated.”
At the end of June, Kyrie Irving finally exercised the option to stay one more season with the Nets, until June 2023, which guarantees him a salary of 37 million dollars. The other star of the team, Kevin Durant, has reconsidered his desire to leave the club this summer, not without having called for the dismissal of Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash, before finally changing his mind. “Last season, we had guys who left the club [James Harden a filé à Philadelphie]injuries, just a lot of uncertainties, which raised doubts in my mind, about the next four years of my career”, explained “KD” this summer.