NFL
By: Zachary Draves
The thing that people have to understand about the “shut up and dribble” and “stick to sports” crowd is that they hold onto their mantra when it suits their interests.
In other words, when an athlete speaks out on a political or social issue they don’t like they stick to their mantra but when an athlete says something they like they wrap their arms around them and invite them on Fox News.
That is what you are seeing with regards to NBA superstar Kyrie Irving and his public battle with the league on its COVID-19 vaccine rules.
Although the league doesn’t mandate players get vaccinated since the player’s association hasn’t proposed that they are still working in compliance with state and local rules such as in San Francisco and New York.
So far over 95% of NBA players have at least one shot, which is a higher rate of vaccinations than the general population and for those of similar age groups to NBA players.
64.7% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 have had at least one dose and 67.9% of those between 25 and 39. https://www.mayoclinic.org/
The league has been productive on this matter and it is unfortunate that a holdout by a few players has overshadowed that.
Not only has Kyrie been publicly hesitancy but his actual vaccination status remains unknown.
He is not alone as Bradley Beal, Jonathan Isaac, and Andrew Wiggins have also joined the fray and spoke about their own hesitancy.
Now I want to be clear this is not an attack on Kyrie.
I have tremendous respect for him for all that he has done when it comes to issues of social justice and he has been consistent and unapologetic on the matter and for that, he has earned much praise now and forever.
It is unfortunate that he has put himself into a position where his good name is being used by the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
Kyrie’s position on the vaccines has made him an unlikely and frankly bizarre bedfellow with some of the foremost promoters of the “stick to sports” narrative.
Among them are the birther and twice impeached former president’s son Little Donny and Senator Ted Cruz.
Little Donny and Teddy had the audacity to tweet out support for Kyrie when not too long ago they were at the forefront telling him and other black athletes when they were and continue to do so advocate for racial justice and combat police violence to “shut up and dribble”.
Now when they attach themselves to Kyrie based on an issue that is not rooted in fact nor has an endgame, they only do so because it is trendy to support black athletes when it makes their side look relevant in the culture.
Don’t forget the distinguished Senator from Cancun, sorry Texas, has been against everything Kyrie and the NBA players have been pushing for.
He is against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to combat police brutality and has been in favor of ongoing voter suppression that is stripping communities of color of the basic right to vote.
Furthermore, he has equated Black Lives Matter to his kind, the insurrectionists who stormed the Capital on January 6, and has equated the teaching of Critical Race Theory to the KKK which indicates a complete lack of basic history for a man who went to Harvard.
This is a man who also tweeted “support” for famed comedian, talk show host, and LGBTQ+ icon Ellen Degeneres after allegations surfaced of a toxic work environment at her show as a means of canceling the cancel culture.
Yet, he has one of the strongest anti-LGBTQ+ voting records on paper.
The point is this man is not a friend of marginalized communities who have been hit the hardest by COVID-19.
As for Little Donny, well you know.
All the initiatives and causes that Kyrie has put his money and name behind include the following:
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He pledged $1.5 million, through his new KAI Empowerment Initiative, to support the WNBA players who sat out the 2020 season to focus on social justice.
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He co-produced with rapper Common on a documentary about Breonna Taylor called #SAYHERNAME: Breonna Taylor.
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He bought George Floyd’s family a house.
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As a man with Native American heritage, he backed the Sioux tribe in 2016 by publicly opposing the development of the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
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In 2014, he joined with other players in wearing the “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts in solidarity with Eric Gardner.
All of which these two clowns don’t know anything about nor care.
By the way, where were these two using their Twitter thumbs when Kyrie had a water bottle thrown at him by a fan at the conclusion of a Nets and Celtics playoff game this past spring?
These two coming out to give someone like Kyrie props should give him and his fellow players a good reason to get the vaccine right away.
All they are interested in is co-opting his position to push their anti-vaccine and anti-science agenda.
It would be a great disappointment to see all the good that Kyrie Irving has done and what he represents be manipulated by this crowd.
Because he is such a thoughtful and considerate person, this is a moment for him to take a pause and think about whether what he is doing is keeping in concert with his legacy and if he is using his platform for the right people.
The ball is in his court now.
