The Brooklyn Nets are hosting the Charlotte Hornets at the Barclays Center in New York City Sunday afternoon without star guard Kyrie Irving on the court.
As you likely already know, Irving is not able to play home games this season due to local mandates that require individuals attending large-scale indoor events to be vaccinated. In turn, the Nets have announced that he’ll remain sidelined until the NBA champion gets the COVID-19 vaccination.
With the Nets opening up their home slate after two consecutive road games, anti-vaxxers are taking to the Barclays Center in a “stand with Kyrie Irving protest.” At one point, barriers were broken down at the arena.
The protest itself was seemingly pretty large.
It also represented a mix of different personalities.
As for Irving, the star guard has made it clear he’s not anti-vaccine. Rather, he’s against mandates that the All-Star claims is costing people their livelihoods.
“I am staying grounded in what I believe in. It is as simple as that. It is not about being anti-vax or about being on one side or the other,” Kyrie Irving said earlier in October. “It is just really about being true to what feels good for me. If I am going to be demonized for having more questions and taking my time to make a decision with my life, that is just what it is. I know the consequences of the decisions that I make with my life. I am not here to sugarcoat any of that.”