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Kyrie Irving: “I don’t support going to Orlando. I’m not with this systematic racism and BS. Something smells a little fishy. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are targeted as black men every day when we wake up.”
Jason McIntyre: “I don't think anyone disputes all of that, but I don’t totally understand where he’s coming from with the ‘I don’t support going to Orlando’… The biggest platform the players will have will be going to the Bubble and speaking up and protesting the racism. The NBA has a ‘no kneeling during the National Anthem’ rule that not even the NFL has. It’s going to be broken widely and nobody is going to care… The players are going to be hammering away social reform, how does Kyrie not understand that? By going to Orlando, you have the power and the platform. Why doesn’t Kyrie see that? BECAUSE HE'S NOT GOING TO BE PLAYING. He’s injured and is having surgery… This is why I’m calling Kyrie ‘selfish’. A week ago on the NBA Players Association’s conference call about restarting the season, Kyrie was on the call and didn’t ask about COVID, and didn’t ask about racism. Kyrie asked ‘I’m injured, does that mean I can count as one of the 35 people the Nets can bring? Can I sit in the stands and cheer on my teammates?’ A week ago he asked if he could use the sauna for rehab, and asked about ‘products’ for the players. According to a story from Woj, when asked about the Bubble, Kyrie asked if he could have an ‘adult beverage', and would it be provided by the league. These were his talking points a week ago and why I’m calling Kyrie Irving selfish… Then he finds out he can’t go, and he’s angry and wants to squash the whole thing… I’m sorry people don’t want to hear it but he’s jealous of LeBron James. This feels like a selfish move by Kyrie and I’m disgusted by it. Just because YOU won’t be there, don’t ruin it for everyone else who has the power and platform to do what is right in this country.” (Full Audio Segment Above)
Listen to Jason McIntyre explain why he’s not buying Kyrie Irving’s recent grumblings against a restarted NBA season, as Irving has voiced much resistance to the NBA’s plan to reboot the season in Orlando at a COVID-19 quarantined 'Bubble City' later this summer.
Irving mentioned how players shouldn’t support the NBA returning to action amidst such a hostile time in the country’s history relating to race relations, and says it’s not the right time to be playing basketball.
Despite Irving’s message being legitimate, McIntyre alludes to a recent report that detailed how Irving, when on a conference call with the league last week speaking on the season restarting in Orlando, never brought up racism once, and instead was asking if he was allowed to attend despite being injured, and inquired about amenities that would be offered to players that included a sauna, and even alcohol.
Check out the video above as McIntyre details why he thinks Irving wants the season called off for his own ‘selfish’ reasons, and even mentions jealousy towards LeBron James as a big reason why.