Kyrie Irving Believes He Is A "Martyr"

BYAlexander Cole2.0K Views
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Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving made the comments while speaking about the vaccine mandate.

Kyrie Irving missed much of this season due to the vaccine mandate in New York City. Irving refused to get the vaccine against COVID-19, and as a result, he wasn't allowed to play games at the Barclays Center. Eventually, this mandate was lifted and Kyrie promptly made his return to the court. 

Despite all of this, Irving still believes he was wronged in a way. During an episode of The ETCs Podcast with Eddie Gonzalez, Irving spoke about the mandates and everything he went through. Shockingly, Irving even went so far as to compare himself to an actual martyr.

Kyrie Irving Believes He Is A "Martyr"
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“I was not expecting a mandate to be brought down in a way where it wasn’t going to let me play at all,” Irving said. “I had the opportunity to play away games still but there was no plan in place, there was no vision of how it was going to work for our team. And I think that not only impacted not just me, but a lot of people. Just had to sit in that hot seat for a little bit and deal with it. The life of a martyr, bro.”

The Brooklyn Nets superstar also spoke on the difficulties of starting his season so late into the year. As you can imagine, there were a ton of growing pains that came with such a predicament. “I had to play catch-up,” Irving said. “And playing catch-up in a league that’s only getting better, it’s not the position you’d like to be in.”

Kyrie Irving Believes He Is A "Martyr"
Al Bello/Getty Images

Now, the Nets will four months to figure everything out before next season. If Ben Simmons comes back, perhaps this Nets squad will actually have a chance at making it past the first and second rounds.

[Via]


About The Author
Alexander Cole is the current editor-in-chief of HotNewHipHop. He started at HotNewHipHop back in 2018 where he began as a Sports and Sneakers writer. It was here where he began to hone his craft, putting his journalism degree from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, to good use. Since that time, he has documented some of the biggest stories in the hip-hop world. From the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef to the disturbing allegations against Diddy, Alex has helped HotNewHipHop navigate large-scale stories as they happen. In 2021, he went to the Bahamas for the Big 3's Championship Game. It was here where he got to interview legendary figures like Ice Cube, Clyde Drexler, and Stephen Jackson. He has also interviewed other superstar athletes such as Antonio Brown, Damian Lillard, and Paul Pierce. This is in addition to conversations with social media provocateurs like Jake Paul, and younger respected artists like Kaycyy, Lil Tecca, and Jeleel!
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