New York Governor Kathy Hochul applauds the Brooklyn Nets organization for prohibiting Kyrie Irving from playing any games. Irving has refused to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
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Kyrie Irving’s anti-vaccination controversy has the league divided. However, most of the players have chosen to maintain a neutral opinion on the issue. Some of the major cities in the USA have come up with a strict mandate regarding COVID-19 vaccination. These cities include New York and San Francisco that would not allow their unvaccinated players to practice or play home games.
Despite several attempts of the Nets franchise, Irving continues to remain defiant about getting the vaccine. With more than a week into the 2021-22 season, Irving continues to remain absent. The former champion, who had recently gone live on Instagram, provided no concrete answers to innumerable questions surrounding him.
Nonetheless, the Nets’ stance of not allowing Irving to play any games until vaccinated has earned them some praise from New York Governor Kathy Hochul. According to Hochul, the team has sent out a clear message about supporting the vaccination drive.
The NY Governor applauded the Nets for making an effort to get the players of their community vaccinated. However, when asked about the permission granted to visiting unvaccinated players to come and play in New York, “it’s a league policy”, replied Hochul.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul applauds the Brooklyn Nets for their stance against Kyrie Irving.
The Nets had recently announced that they would not allow Irving to be a part-time member of the Nets, only playing away games. This announcement has earned the team some high praise from NY Governor Kathy Hochul.
“I think the message is that the team itself supports vaccinations,” said Hochul, after delivering a speech at Barclays Center promoting the vaccine to kids under age 12. “The vast, vast, vast majority of their players are vaccinated, and they’re here to support making sure that members of the community are vaccinated. That’s the takeaway from today’s event.”
Via: New York Daily News
While Irving sits at home, unvaccinated players from opposition teams visiting New York have no such compulsions. A primary example is Bradley Beal, who is unvaccinated but played the preseason game at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks.
Thus this inconsistency in the mandate doesn’t serve the purpose of eliminating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when asked the NY Governor about this, she had the following to say.
“I don’t have a statement on that,” she said, “because that’s a league policy.”
Via: New York Daily News
It’s not a league policy but an exemption granted by New York City Mayor de Blasio in his Key to NYC vaccine mandate, which says “professional athletes/members of professional sports teams who do not reside in NYC but enter the premises for the purpose of competing” do not need to be vaccinated to play in this city.
Thus the mandate comes across as highly inconsistent, leading to questions about every player not suffering the same consequences but Irving.
