The ax fell on October 12, 2021. Pushed to get vaccinated to be allowed to play at home, Brooklyn basketball player Kyrie Irving was sidelined by his club on Tuesday.
He is forbidden to train or play… unless he resigns himself to receiving his injections.
The Brooklyn Nets point guard has been in the hot seat since New York City introduced new health safety protocols preventing unvaccinated adults from taking part in training or matches.
"Kyrie has made a personal choice and we [he] respect him," Sean Marks, the club's general manager, said in a statement, but cautioned: "We will not allow any member of our team to be only partially available. .
"
The NBA, which initially considered making vaccination compulsory, finally gave up when the players' union (NBPA) refused at a meeting in August.
Since then, the authorities of American basketball have been pushing by other means, in particular an extremely strict health protocol for the unvaccinated (daily tests, meals alone, outings and very limited interactions), who are gradually being convinced.
The one who refuses to confirm his vaccination status, which he wishes to keep "in the private sphere", split a tweet on Saturday, October 9: "I am protected by God and my relatives are too.
We are together.
“Protection that the Nets apparently deemed insufficient.