The ax finally fell.
Pushed to get vaccinated and thus be allowed to play at home, Brooklyn basketball player Kyrie Irving was dismissed by his club on Tuesday, banned from training or playing ... unless he resigned 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.
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"
Kyrie has made a personal choice and we respect
that choice," said Sean Marks, the club's general manager, in a statement, but warns: "
We will not allow any member of our team to be only partially available.
"
Our goal of being crowned champions this season remains unchanged and to achieve it, each member (...) must push in the same direction
", summarizes Sean Marks.
Increasing calls for vaccination
The announcement represents the culmination of the conflict between the American professional basketball league, the NBA, and the estimated 5% of players refusing immunization against Covid-19.
It comes as New York City Hall had yet decided Friday 9 to allow Irving to train in the franchise facilities, considered private and not public.
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The League, which initially considered making vaccination compulsory, finally gave up when the players' union (NBPA) refused at a meeting held 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.
Andrew Wiggins, a vaccine-recalcitrant winger for the San Francisco-based franchise Golden State Warriors, which put in place restrictions similar to New York's, has finally been vaccinated, his club announced in early October.
The Lakers superstar LeBron James, a time "
very skeptical
", also received his doses, however refusing to call for vaccination.
“
I don't think I should get involved in what people do for their bodies,
” he said at the end of September.
$ 380,000: Irving's shortfall per game
Calls for compulsory vaccination are flooding in, however, such as that expressed vehemently by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball legend, saying that "
a player should imperatively submit to it otherwise he would have to be withdrawn from the team
". Of which act at the Brooklyn Nets. And Kyrie Irving could well miss the start of the NBA season, which opens with a shock between his team and the defending champions Milwaukee Bucks, if he does not rectify his situation by then. A blow, even if the club can still count on its two other stars, James Harden and Kevin Durant. And if he persists, he will miss the entire season, along with millions of dollars in salary, the trifle of $ 380,000 per game, according to sports channel ESPN.
He says he is protected by God, a protection that his club did not consider sufficient
Nets general manager Sean Marks, however, clarified at a press conference following the announcement Tuesday that only Kyrie Irving's home game income would be withheld by the club.
The away games will be well paid for him.
The leader of the Brooklyn Nets, who had not officially reacted Tuesday, said at the end of September wanting to avoid "
causing more distractions and more mess
" for his team.
According to
Rolling Stone
magazine
, Kyrie Irving had shared posts on social media from a conspiracy theorist claiming that "
secret societies plant vaccine to connect black people to a large computer as part of a plan by Satan
."
The one who refuses to confirm his vaccination status, which he wishes to keep "
in the private sphere
", split a tweet on Saturday: "
I am protected by God and my relatives are too.
We are together.
“Protection that the Nets apparently deemed insufficient.