On Tuesday, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks announced that Kyrie Irving would not be playing or practicing with the team until he gets vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus.
«Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose,» Marks said in a statement. «Currently, the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability. It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established values of togetherness and sacrifice.» Which is, exactly, what should happen. And shows that vaccine mandates work. (New York has a vaccine mandate for people entering gyms, which includes Barclays Center, where Irving and the Nets play.) Let’s revisit how we got here. At the Nets media day last month, Irving refused to disclose his vaccination status — saying he would «like to keep all that private.» Earlier this month, while still not disclosing his vaccine status, Irving tweeted this: «I am protected by God and so are my people.
