Kyrie Irving says he's standing up for the voiceless with his refusal to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Kendrick Perkins is one of the many people not buying that — albeit probably in more colorful terms than most.
The cast on ESPN's "First Take" Thursday was discussing Irving's vaccine stance. After a four-minute rant from Stephen A. Smith, Perkins stepped in with a succinct explanation for his disagreement with Irving.
"You have certain people that say Kyrie Irving is a version of Colin Kaepernick. No, the hell he's not," Perkins said. "Colin Kaepernick made it very, very clear where stands — or where he stood, as far as with the NFL. I don't know where Kyrie stands. He's all over the place."
As Perkins said, the comparison between Kaepernick, who lost his NFL career over protesting racial injustice, and Irving, who's choosing to be unvaccinated against a lethal virus, is ridiculous. On top of that, Irving can't explain his stance. The All-Star point guard recorded a lengthy Instagram Live session Wednesday, but wound up just serving a lot of word salad.
"I'm rocking with all those who have lost their jobs to this mandate and I'm rocking with all those who chose to be vaccinated and are choosing to be safe as well," he said. "I'm on both sides of all this. I support and respect everybody's decision."
Earlier this week, The Athletic ran an article with sources close to Irving explaining his viewpoint. They said he's not anti-vaccine, but upset people are losing their jobs over vaccine mandates.
The Nets said Irving will be suspended indefinitely until he gets vaccinated. New York law prohibits unvaccinated people from entering indoor gyms.
Jay Williams attempted to defend Irving, but wound up getting into a shouting match with Smith instead. Thankfully, Perk provided some additional clarity.
"When you say you're being the voice for the voiceless, now you're taking on a whole different kind of ownership. Now you're saying you're making a stance for society and for others," he said. "What I'm saying is, it's still unclear which stance Kyrie Irving is taking. My stance is, I'm standing not for the people who are going to put the '100' emoji on my Instagram. I'm standing for the people who can't get into hospitals because these unvaccinated people are hogging up ICU rooms. I'm standing for those people."
Right on.
