One of the players who, like Kyrie Irving, expressed that they didn’t think the NBA should resume te 2019-20 season at Disney World in Florida so it wouldn’t distract people from the social justice protests happening in the U.S. was Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley. On Tuesday, Bradley made it official that he’s not going to play, but it was for different reasons — concerns about COVID-19 and bringing his family into the bubble.
Throughout the process of speaking out against the league’s restart, Bradley did not receive much criticism. Whereas, seemingly everyone had something to say about Irving. Given the Brooklyn Nets point guard is a superstar and Bradley is a role player, it makes sense why one would be under the spotlight more than the other.
However, everything Irving went through recently still isn’t sitting well with Wilson Chandler, which he recently expressed on Twitter:
Crazy to me how fans, ex players and players criticized Kyrie for voicing his opinion. A[n] opinion that wasn’t wrong at all. Who cares if you didn’t like his delivery or the way he went about it. With everything that’s going on from police brutality to covid he had the backbone to speak his mind. Whether I’m on the court playing or not I respect and support his opinion.
Chandler is one of several teammates who’ve defended Irving throughout this entire process, along with Kevin Durant.