Stephen A. Smith reflects on the controversy surrounding Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In retrospect, the sports commentator admitted that he now thought Irving was “right” with his decision all along.
After Irving refused to get vaccinated and subsequently failed to comply New York City Mandate Back when athletes had to be vaccinated to play in indoor arenas, the shooting guard was sidelined for much of the 2021-2022 season during his tenure with the Brooklyn Nets.
In one InstagramLive in October 2021, Irving claimed that his decision was about “being true to what feels right for me,” noting that it was not a “political matter” and had nothing to do with the NBA or any other organization.
The seven-time All-Star revealed that he ultimately turned down a four-year, $100 million-plus extension from the Nets due to his decision to remain unvaccinated.
While Irving found support of a small group of other NBA stars who expressed reservations about the COVID vaccine, Smith initially slammed Irvin’s decision years ago.
In a September 2022 episode of his EPSN show “First Take,” Smith called out Irving for not being a team player.
“Everyone participated, except you,” said the TV presenter said.
Monday’s episode of the former NBA star Carmelo Anthonythe podcast, “7pm BrooklynSmith admitted he has since changed his mind about Irving’s decision not to get vaccinated.
“In retrospect, the brother is clearly right because we see all the conspiracy theories that are coming out. And we support him because he sees that, because he has the foresight to see that,” Smith said. He did not elaborate on which conspiracy theories he was referring to.
“We didn’t see that at the time,” Smith added.
Smith went on to explain why he chose to take the vaccine himself.
“But you too… I have to understand that I live in a world where cats make 38, 40, 45 million. [dollars]. You have [general managers] and owners complaining about it, and you’ve got billionaires looking me in the face and saying, ‘Yo, Stephen A., I took that damn vaccine. Who the hell are they not to take the vaccine?” he said.
Noting that “we live in a country where the government forces all of that on us,” Smith added, “so I’m just sitting there saying, ‘We’re all taking the risk.’ Kyrie said no. Support for him, but I didn’t see it that way.”
Watch Smith’s performance on “7pm Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony” below.
