As the Philadelphia 76ers head into the NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors in Round 1 of the postseason, a lot of eyes will be on Matisse Thybulle who will be ineligible to play in the road games in Toronto.
Canada’s vaccination rule requires a person to be fully vaccinated to enter the country and Thybulle opened up on Sunday and revealed that he only has one shot. He went into deep detail on why he chose not to get vaccinated initially, then got one, and then didn’t get the second one. Therefore, he will not be able to play in Toronto.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith was flabbergasted when he heard the news and he went on “First Take” to call out Thybulle:
What the hell am I supposed to call somebody who takes the vaccine shot and take the first shot and forget to take the second shot? Dumb! That’s what you call them. What the hell is going on? Kyrie was principal. I disagree with him because I felt he owed it to the team but dammit, he took his position and he was clear. I ain’t taking the vaccine. Jaylen Brown reportedly, guess what, he might not have taken the vaccine. Okay? Thybulle took it! He just forgot to take the second shot! You got to be kidding me…How in the hell do you take the Pfizer. Everybody and their mama! Not just in the United States of America but globally! I mean, in Istanbul for crying out loud! Everybody knows the vaccine with the Pfizer and the Moderna, they’re two shots! Johnson&Johnson is one. What are we gonna say that Thybulle confused Johnson&Johnson with Pfizer or Moderna? That’s what we’re gonna do? We’ll use that as an excuse and if he has that excuse, we’re gonna say the whole Sixers organization had that excuse. I mean, just idiocy! I mean, idiocy at its height! How in the hell do you have a defensive ace that you know you’re gonna need for the playoffs and I thought that he refused to take the shot. He took one shot. He just didn’t take shot number two, according to the report. If that is true, I mean, that might go down. I mean, we got to have a list of the dumbest things that we have seen in sports. That’s up there and I’m talking historically. Historically, we got to look at stupidity at its height on the part of a player and a part of an organization and we got to sit up there and say we got to investigate what has been dumber than this. It’s necessary. It’s necessary.
Whether one agrees with Thybulle or not, and a lot of people won’t, at the end of the day, it is his decision. One should give him credit for speaking and explaining his decision and understanding the consequences of his actions.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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