Kyrie Irving says he’s ‘rooted’ in decision not to get COVID-19 vaccine: ‘It’s not going to be swayed’

Kyrie Irving made it clear that he isn’t changing his mind about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Kyrie Irving’s vaccine stance has been looming over the Nets all season long, and while he’s returned to the team on a part-time basis, his refusal to become vaccinated and comply with local New York City mandates means that the Nets will not be able to rely on him in half of their scheduled games.

James Harden joked last week that he’d give Irving the vaccine himself if he had to, but when Irving was asked about his situation again after Monday’s loss to the Cavaliers, he made it clear that he has no intention of changing his mind.

“It’s not going to be swayed just because of one thing in this NBA life. That somehow it’s brought to my attention as being more important than what’s going on in the real world. It’s just not happening for me. Again, I respect everyone else’s decision, I’m not going to ever try to convince anyone of anything or any of that, I’m just standing rooted in what I believe in. And though we’re dealing with this right now with Kev, I just know that I’m protected by the organization, I’m protected by my teammates, I’m protected by all the doctors I’ve talked to.”

The situation could always change again, but for the time being, the Nets now know that they’ll head into the playoffs with Irving unavailable for home games. For a team with championship aspirations, the prospect of losing Irving for a key Game 7 is now very real.

[mm-video type=video id=01fkxafnh824s1n5xht4 playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fkxafnh824s1n5xht4/01fkxafnh824s1n5xht4-192631611ff28c6b39a97395c1b05159.jpg]

[listicle id=32234]