The leftist sports media has gone all in to attack the NBA’s unvaccinated players, especially Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving for his desire to keep his coronavirus vaccination status a private matter.
Irving is among the tiny ten percent of players who are reticent to take a coronavirus vaccine.
Still, Irving and a few other players have resisted the push to vaccinate and Irving is even beginning to mount personal protests over being pressured to take a vaccine. Irving, for example, refused to attend in person a recent media day for the team because New York City had passed a rule requiring athletes to show proof of the jab to be allowed to play in a city arena.
Irving has also asked the media to respect his wishes over his desire to keep his vaccination status a private issue and has refused to speak of his personal status in public.
None of this satisfies the liberal sports media as one after another they line up to excoriate Irving and the few other unvaccinated players.
Extreme leftist former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, for instance, slammed Irving for his “arrogance” and hypocrisy for not taking the vaccine.
“The NBA should insist that all players and staff are vaccinated or remove them from the team,” Abdul-Jabbar told the equally leftist Rolling Stone. “There is no room for players who are willing to risk the health and lives of their teammates, the staff and the fans simply because they are unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation or do the necessary research.”
Deadspin writer Carron J. Phillips blasted Irving for his “narcissism,” and called him the “piper of NBA anti-vaxxers.” Carron added, “But that’s the thing about the ones who are opposed to ‘getting the shot.’ They believe their self interests trumps science and the betterment of mankind.”
Others were nearly as virulent. ESPN accused Irving of causing NBA staffers who are vaccinated to “fear” being exposed to the coronavirus because of the small number of unvaccinated players. The Washington Postslapped Irving for thinking he is “too smart for you,” and said his legacy will be damaging the league instead of leaving a legacy of athletic excellence. Yahoo Sports blasted the league for giving space for Irving and the unvaccinated players to “be loud and wrong.” And the L.A. Timesdismissed Irving’s concerns and told him to just “do the right thing” and get vaccinated.
Naturally, all the usual suspects on Twitter went wild to attack Irving over the vaccine issue.
Kyrie Irving actually just said he wants no distractions. He's first-team All-distraction.
Jonathan Isaac and Kyrie Irving have a sample size to investigate the "effects" of the vaccine. It's called "the WNBA". They somehow had 99% of their workforce vaccinated without complaints of bullying or religious exemptions or crusades for the unvaxxed. Just talk to THEM pic.twitter.com/eLayk8yIz7
4:10 PM PT — TMZ Sports has learned … LeBron James tested positive for COVID-19 this afternoon using a lateral flow test. James was given a follow-up PCR test to confirm the diagnosis. However, that test came back negative. LeBron was then given a third tie-breaker test … which came back positive.
We’re told the team has chartered a private jet so Bron can fly back to Los Angeles in a safe manner.
We’re also told James is currently asymptomatic. LeBron is fully vaccinated.
LeBron James has been placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols and will miss tonight’s game against the Sacramento Kings, the league announced Tuesday.
The news comes just hours before the Lakers are set to go up against the Kings.
It’s unclear if 36-year-old James is COVID-19 positive, if he was a close contact or had a false positive.
Per the league’s rules, if James is positive, he will be away from the team either for the next 10 days or until he submits at least two negative PCR tests before returning.
LeBron is fully vaccinated but has previously shied away from encouraging others to get the jab.
“We’re talking about individuals’ bodies,” LeBron said back in September. “We’re not talking about something that’s political, or racism, or police brutality. Things of that nature. We’re talking about people’s bodies and well being.”
“So, I don’t feel like, for me personally, that I should get involved in what other people should do for their bodies and their livelihoods.”
“108 FIFA players & coaches have died in the last 6 months alone”
we need to talk about what’s causing this statistically undisputed SPIKE in non-covid EXCESS DEATHS” (my thread below, within thread, collates multiple reports) pic.twitter.com/G2dZTHH7Smhttps://t.co/zjfFZ9FQi7
State Farm and other companies Aaron Rodgers is the spokesperson for came under fire after the Green Bay Packers superstar revealed his stance on the coronavirus vaccine.
Rodgers had already been dropped by Prevea Health over the weekend and on Monday it was State Farm’s turn to decide what they were going to do with the reigning NFL MVP. Rodgers had been seen in countless ads for the insurance company touting their “discount double check.”
State Farm said it supported Rodgers’ “personal point of view” despite disagreeing with his statements on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week.
“Aaron Rodgers has been a great ambassador for our company for much of the past decade,” State Farm said in a statement to FOX Business.
“We don’t support some of the statements that he has made, but we respect his right to have his own personal point of view. We recognize our customers, employees, agents and brand ambassadors come from all walks of life, with differing viewpoints on many issues. Our mission at State Farm is to support safer, stronger communities. To that end, we encourage vaccinations, but respect everyone’s right to make a choice based on their personal circumstances.”
Rodgers rattled off several reasons why he chose not to get vaccinated, including an allergy he said he has from an ingredient in mRNA vaccines. He said he also talked to his friend Joe Rogan about the treatments the podcaster took when he was diagnosed with COVID and admitted one of the medicines he was on was ivermectin.
“I realize I’m in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now,” Rodgers told former NFL punter McAfee and his former linebacker teammate A.J. Hawk. “So, before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I think I would like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies that are out there about myself.”
Rodgers took shots at the NFL media for ripping him and made it a point to say he would’ve explained himself if anyone asked him to explain what he meant when he said he was immunized. Additionally, he said he was allergic to some of the ingredients in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and chose not to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to some of its side effects.
“I’m not an anti-vaxx, flat-earther. … I have an allergy to an ingredient that’s in the mRNA vaccines. I found a long-term immunization protocol to protect myself, and I’m very proud of the research that went into that,” the Packers star added.
On Saturday, Prevea Health dropped Rodgers.
“Prevea Health remains deeply committed to protecting its patients, staff, providers and communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” the company wrote in a statement. “This includes encouraging and helping all eligible populations to become vaccinated against COVID-19 to prevent the virus from further significantly impacting lives and livelihoods.”
