“It ought to be your choice to get the COVID vaccine or not.”
It was his choice, he chose not to get the vax. A contract is a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law. The club’s and the players association recognize the rulebook that was agreed upon before he signed to perform his task as a player within the rulebook, which also defines his work and can govern his disagreements with it.
“A simple act of civil disobedience has the power to effect great change in this world.”
It might, but not this case. It makes no difference in the long run if a basketball player decides he doesn’t want the vax and then violates the NBA rules that were agreed upon by the association that represents him by doing exactly what he and the league knows was wrong.
It’s no different than Ron Artest.
COMMENTS ON THE RULES
PLAYER CONDUCT—SPECTATORS
J. Any coach, player, trainer, or other team bench person who deliberately enters the spectator stands during the game will be automatically ejected and the incident reported by e-mail to Basketball Operations.
They even define the seats with this:
The first row of seats is considered the beginning of the stands.
What he did had nothing to do with a protest of the vaccine. If you’re saying it is okay to break a rule because you want to and he can get away with not having to play at select games because he makes so much money that he doesn’t care and puts a personal preference ahead of his profession, then that’s your choice. But consider a soldier that signs an enlistment contract knowing he could get killed in his profession. Is it okay to ignore lawful orders because he chose to? Or how about the cop that doesn’t want to stay within the rules and just ignores crimes for preference? It’s no different. It’s just eh contract world. And what he did had little if any effect in the real world. Plus I’ll bet hardly anyone looked up the rules on his actions. They didn’t care...he’s a hero. B.S.
He signed the contract to make that money and agreed to stay within it’s rules. He broke them and the club did also. He shouldn’t be fined for making the choice he did. But both he and the club should be fined for violating the rules book. If he wishes to go to an anti-vax protest, please do. But violating a contract is a hard lesson sometimes to learn. And I’ll bet the league doesn’t have the pelotas to do it.
wy69
Irving is not suspended. And the league said he can sit in the stands because he wasn’t a player that day and because until this week unvaccinated fans could sit in the stands.
The league doesn’t have a vaccine mandate. It is a city mandate and Kyrie Irving just proved the idiocy of it.
If unvaccinated visiting players and unvaccinated spectators can watch/play at Barclays Center, then an unvaccinated Nets player should be allowed to do the same. Period.
All this talk about follow the rules is complete sense. The current Mayor says he cannot change the rule because Bill DeBlasio ordered it and he is just following the rules. If the previous mayor can order a rule, another mayor can take it away. This is all Covid theater that Eric Adams is playing.
And if you want to play it’s a choice and the legal game, get the vaccine or we are going to take away your job. And by the way we are not going to provide accommodation and are going to blow off your exemption. That is not a choice. That is tyranny. When you have an objection, this can’t just be ignored and blown off. This violates your rights and all kinds of federal laws: Civil Rights Acto of 1964, EEOC, your unalienable rights, etc. Everyone has rights no matter what Fauci says, some commissioner of a sporting league, CEO of a company or a Mayor has to say.