ESPN story on Kyrie Irving, the disruptor: https://t.co/02nOKKKjxE
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 13, 2020
When Adam Silver and the rest of the NBA think tanks were bouncing around the idea of resuming the season, Kyrie Irving spoke up against a restart. Back in June, the Brooklyn Nets star and vice president of the National Basketball Players Association organized a call with over 80 players to discuss how to use their platform to further the Black Lives movement. Irving was an early advocate of not resuming the season in fear that it would distract from the protest that was currently happening in the streets, regarding the murder of George Floyd.
Other players shared the same sentiment. However, Kyrie was immediately ostracized and singled out as the problem child of the association. It makes sense. Irving makes himself an easy target with his incorrect claims that the earth is flat, or his track record of messy breakups with not just one, but two teams in the Boston Celtics and Clevland Cavaliers.
It’s easy to dismiss the message when you do not particularly like the messenger. What I found interesting, is that the same people who were so quick to vilifying him back in June, are now praising the recent boycott from the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Receipts
From former players to NBA information powerbrokers, everyone had the wherewithal to label Kyrie as someone who was out touch with what needed to be done. Above is a quote from former NBA player Kendrick Perkins back in June. Kendrick called Kyrie a “Bird brain” with no plan. The Milwaukee Bucks originally sat out without a concrete plan, to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, which happened in their home state of Wisconsin.
Powerful move by the Bucks but now I’m curious to see what are OKC, Houston, Lakers and Blazers are going to do?!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) August 26, 2020
Houston Rockets Guard, Austin Rivers, originally spoke up against Kyrie’s idea of boycotting the restart because of the implications that it could have on the CBA. He stated how the money that the players would not receive if they didn’t play could not be reinvested back into the community.
The Houston Rockets have boycotted their Wednesday playoff game against the OKC Thunder.
Kyrie Irving, who never entered the bubble, forfeited the rest of his 2019-2020 salary. He has donated $1.5 million dollars to the WNBA players who opted out of the season, donated $323,000 and over 250,000 meals throughout the New York area, and funded a one-hour documentary titled “#SAYHERNAME” about the murder of emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor.
Final Thoughts
Kyrie was labeled as the scapegoat and opposition of the NBA returning. A lot of what Irving was preaching 3 months ago is now resurfacing, but it isn’t him saying these things. It’s coming from those who dismissed Kyrie. I just hope that the apologies will be as loud as the disrespect.
I hope you enjoyed this article and took something from it! When you have some time, go give my podcast “The Benchwarmers and Burners” some love! You can follow the show’s Twitter and if you want to check out other great content, go follow Belly Up Hoops and Belly Up Podcast. I promise you won’t regret it!
Don’t forget to check out the other fantastic articles on the site.
