Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving has hit some of the biggest shots in NBA history, like his step-back 3-pointer that led to a 2016 NBA championship. But now the shot he may become most famous for is the one that he never took. While speaking at the Nets media day this week, Irving told the press his decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 vaccine last year cost him time — and millions of dollars. See also: Dropping Aaron Judge’s 61st home run ball might have cost this fan $250,000 or more
“I gave up four years, $100-something million deciding to be unvaccinated, and that was the decision,” Irving said. “(Get this) contract, get vaccinated — or be unvaccinated, and there’s a level of uncertainty of your future, whether you’re going to be in this league, whether you’re going to be on this team. So I had to deal with that real-life circumstance of losing my job for this decision.”
NBA players are not required to get vaccinated by the league, but they had to undergo stricter COVID protocols last season as part of the league’s pandemic safety measures. But in New York City where the Nets play, however, there was a vaccine mandate for businesses last season that kept Irving from playing in home games. So he missed dozens of games as a result, participating in just 29 of the 82 games for the Nets last season. The Nets were set to give Kyrie a new contract last year, but Irving said that the contract would have only been officially offered to him if he was vaccinated against COVID, and could therefore play in home games. But since Irving never got the vaccine, he said they never agreed to a new contract. See also: A long-shot option trade from the show ‘Industry’ would have paid off when the 10-year Treasury yield topped 4% “I didn’t appreciate how me being unvaccinated all of a sudden came to be a stigma within my career that I don’t want to play, or that I’m willing to give up everything to be a voice for the voiceless,” Irving continued.
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