“Muhammed Ali would be proud of Kyrie Irving”: Stephon Marbury shockingly compares the boxing legend’s activism to the Nets star’s vaccine concerns

Stephon Marbury says that Muhammed Ali would be proud of Kyrie Irving for taking a stance against getting the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Kyrie Irving has made waves throughout this NBA preseason for his antagonistic stance on getting the COVID-19 vaccine. He’s made it clear that he isn’t yet vaccinated and does not intend to get the shot anytime soon. This of course, has led to the Brooklyn Nets distancing themselves from him, claiming they only want full-time participants on their team. 

After a few weeks of media silence, Kyrie Irving hopped onto an Instagram live session where he opened up about why he chose to remain unvaccinated. As usual, the Nets star claimed that it was an extremely personal decision and that he hopes people can respect him for it.

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“I’m standing with all those that believe what is right. Everybody is entitled to do what they feel is what’s best for themselves. Seeing the way this is dividing our world up; it’s sad to see. People are losing jobs to mandates,” said Irving. 

Stephon Marbury says Muhammed Ali would be proud of Kyrie Irving. 

Stephon Marbury took to Kyrie’s Instagram live align himself with the Brooklyn Nets guard. One of his comments was, “Ali would be proud of you!” while another read, “You bringing the vaccinated and the unvaccinated together. That’s a different power. “No one never seen it before.” 

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This is a take that was most recently done by Jason Whitlock who called what Kyrie Irving is doing, “the most courageous form of athletic civil disobedience since Muhammed Ali refused induction into the United States military”. 

What Muhammed Ali did when drafted into the military during the Vietnam War was based off religious beliefs. That is vastly different from going up against a vaccine; something that has been deemed safe through scientific methods. 

It’s interesting to see Marbury stand with Kyrie Irving on this, considering the fact that his cousin, and older brother to former high school phenom, Sebastian Telfair, passed away due to COVID-19 related complications last year.