Real professionals and fans probably know a basketball player by the name of Kyrie Irving. He was the reason why the Brooklyn team was able to go to the playoffs. Although more recently, the athlete didn’t participate in competitions. In fact, Kyrie is one of the few who refused vaccination and expressed their stance against it. This is the reason why the leadership of the National Basketball League simply couldn’t let him compete.
However, recently, the mayor of New York cancelled all COVID-19 restrictions, which caused for Irving to immediately return to the team. In the match with Cleveland, this basketball player earned 32 points and completed 12 assists. These indicators helped the team to win over rivals. Fans are extremely happy with such a long-awaited return. After all, now you can bet on basketball based on the available statistics of past games.
Why is Kyrie strongly against vaccination?
Let’s focus on the personality of Kyrie Irving a bit more. It turned out that this athlete has his pitfalls, like worldviews that not everyone agrees with, instead often discussing and criticizing them. Of course, this fact has affected his sports career.
As mentioned above, the basketball player missed most of the season due to the lack of vaccination against COVID-19. Additionally, his stance on the issue didn’t change, not even a bit. Irving remains a strong opponent of vaccination. Experts and fans noted that the player got extremely lucky that the mayor of New York abolished the mandatory vaccination necessary to participate in sports events. By the way, the beginners’ mistakes in basketball betting often occur due to a lack of information about players that will play. For example, if bettors didn’t know that Kyrie would perform, they couldn’t be confident in their predictions.
The basketball player decided not to get vaccinated consciously. Many wondered how he returned to his perfect physical shape so quickly. Some noted that his physique has even improved. However, there’s no secret to success. He was simply allowed to continue the training process since Brooklyn is private property. Nevertheless, he couldn’t access competitions yet, and the team experienced significant difficulties. The first game with Kyrie took place only at the end of March.
Undoubtedly, the media couldn’t let such a strong stance slide. The athlete said that his stance is based on how many ordinary people lost their jobs due to mandatory vaccination certificates. The player expressed the same opinion to his team. Earlier, Irving said that God helps him cope with the pandemic. In addition, he liked the posts of a conspiracy theorist who, in turn, wrote that Americans with dark skin colour were vaccinated by some secret companies to monitor their lives later down the line.
Basketball player believes in conspiracy theory
It turned out that the player actually believes in conspiracy theories. Like all like-minded conspiracy theorists, Irving believes that Earth is flat. He also believes in some other rather dubious theories. He said that everyone can see that all these facts are true with their own eyes because you should only believe your eyes, only they show what’s true. After a while, the basketball player publicly apologized for some of his statements. However, he still believes that the planet Earth is truly flat.
There is another component of his unusual worldview apart from his beliefs regarding vaccines. It has to do with spirituality. A couple of years ago, Kyrie spoke about belonging to the traditions of his mother, who was born into an Indian tribe. For this reason, basketball player honours their traditions. In 2018, the athlete took part in a specialized ceremony during which Irving was given a new name: Little Mountain. That’s when the player stopped hiding his views, actively demonstrating them to everyone instead. For example, on his social media, where there are several posts on this topic. In addition, the basketball player conducts special Indian rituals before the start of each match. In 2020, Kyrie burned sage in the dressing room before a game to clear the space.
Holy fast is not an issue for competition
However, exactly a year ago, the American player unexpectedly admitted that he now considers himself Muslim. And already this year, during the tournament, he adhered to a holy fast. Its essence lies in the deliberate refusal of food and water throughout the fast. The head coach tried to influence the situation because this could’ve affected the physical condition of the athlete. But, as we can see, Irving is clearly fine. Notably, there are several cases in history when athletes continued to follow the holy fast, despite the upcoming serious matches.
The player himself says that he knows a lot of such athletes all over the world. Together they fast, meditate, and pray. Kyrie also said that God and faith follow him during the games.
Of course, no one has the right to look down on the views of this famous player. Since each person has the right to decide what to believe and how to live. However, the mix between Islam, conspiracy theories, and Indian traditions looks odd. Even then, his team completely accepts him, despite all these factors.
The Brooklyn players themselves say that they’re used to all his oddities and many even like the ritual of sage burning because it energizes the entire game and brings the team closer together. All athletes respect his choice and views and don’t condemn him for it. After all, Kyrie Irving doesn’t hold back during the game.
Summing up, this athlete is undoubtedly an outstanding basketball player and person. Sometimes the team suffers because of some of his views, but everything gets resolved after a while. Kyrie brings the team closer together and fills it with strength and energy for the game. Thanks to him, the team first made it to the playoffs, and now they’re waiting for a match with the Boston team.
