Kyrie Irving is a complicated figure; he always seems to have his heart in the right place, but his opinions are sometimes of the conspiracy variety. For example, his views on Covid and the vaccine have landed him at the forefront of unnecessarily politicized debates about the pandemic while leaving him as a part-time employee on the Nets roster.
And at the same time, Irving has done a tremendous amount of work to ensure equality in pay for both men and women basketball players from the NBA and WNBA while also using his voice to fight for social injustices across America, showing up at protests and being amongst the people when it mattered the most.
But his dedication to being a polarizing figure in the NBA has warranted some criticism as to whether or not Irving truly still loves the game of basketball or if he is reaching a point of complacency. A comment from one of Irving's loved ones could hold the answer to this secret.
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In an Athletic article written by Joe Vardon, Char White Mountain--one of Irving's aunts--disclosed that Irving doesn't see being an NBA player as a glorious career but "more or less just a job" in his eyes. Vardon writes in the article that "At the time Char recounted her story to me, Irving had yet to play a single game for the Nets this season." Vardon continues the story, recalling the conversation. "And during dinner with Irving, Char said, he told her that basketball was "more or less just a job" to him. Then, as he showed her pictures of his children, he paused and asked her, "Auntie, who can I trust here? Who can I trust?"
Irving's stance on the league is very telling and makes sense when you consider his actions over the past year. While it may stink for his fans, it's clear that Irving puts a ton of life's social issues and experiences over the concept that basketball is life. For Kyrie Irving, life is life, and basketball happens to be a minor pit stop in the grand scheme of his reality.
So, where do we go from here with Irving and his current situation with the Nets? Well, he will remain a part-time employee until he decides to get vaccinated and, from the looks of things, that could remain until the foreseeable future.
[Via]