NBA superstar Kyrie Irving reveals how much the four-year extension he declined was worth when he turned it down to remain unvaccinated prior to the 2020-2021 season, according to a report from ESPN.
"I gave up four years, 100-and-something million deciding to be unvaccinated and that was the decision," Irving said on Monday during Nets media day. "[Get this] contract, get vaccinated or be unvaccinated and there's a level of uncertainty of your future, whether you're going to be in this league, whether you're going to be on this team, so I had to deal with that real-life circumstance of losing my job for this decision."
"I gave up 4 years, 100+ MILLION deciding to be unvaccinated and that was the decision.” —Kyrie Irving ?
pic.twitter.com/CZOWfatlGu— Kate (@KateTalksTruth) September 26, 2022
Irving is still unvaccinated to this day. He was forced to miss home games in Brooklyn until late March because of a New York City vaccination mandate. The Nets guard opted into the final year of his contract for $36.5 million prior to the season.
Irving was hopeful the terms of the contract would be set prior to the previous season.
"We were supposed to have all that figured out before training camp last year," Irving said. "And it just didn't happen because of the status of me being vaccinated, unvaccinated. So, I understood their point and I just had to live with it. It was a tough pill to swallow, honestly."
Nets GM Sean Marks gave some pushback on giving Irving an "ultimatum" with regard to the contract.
"There's no ultimatum being given here," Marks said. "Again, it goes back to you want people who are reliable, people who are here, and accountable. All of us: staff, players, coaches, you name it. It's not giving somebody an ultimatum to get a vaccine. That's a completely personal choice. I stand by Kyrie. I think if he wants, he's made that choice. That's his prerogative completely."
According to Marks, it was the New York City vaccine mandate combined with Irving's decision not to get the vaccine that stalled the contract talks.
"So two summers ago, that was pre-citywide, statewide mandates that went in," Marks said. "So once the vaccine mandates came in, and we knew how that would affect [Irving] playing home games and so forth, that's when contract talks stalled. So it didn't get to [a point], 'Here's the deal, now take it back.' That never happened."
Despite the issues in the past, Marks is very confident about Irving's commitment to the Nets.
"At the end of the day, we're happy that Kyrie is back here," Marks said. "I'm listening to the press conference he had this morning and my takeaway from that is that he's committed. He understands that in order for him to be a free agent and get what he rightfully wants, he's going to have to show commitment out there. We're happy to support him in any possible way throughout the season to make sure that he's healthy and ready to go."
While Irving was frustrated with the Nets, he did say he understands where the Nets were coming from after the season.
"I understood all the Nets' points," Irving said. "And I respected it and I honored it, and I didn't appreciate how me being vaccinated, all of a sudden, came to be a stigma within my career that I don't want to play, or I'm willing to give up everything to be a voice for the voiceless. And which I will stand on here and say that, that wasn't the only intent that I had, was to be the voice of the voiceless, it was to stand on something that was going to be bigger than myself."
"I didn't appreciate how me being unvaccinated came to be a stigma within my career that I don't want to play, or that I'm willing to give up everything to be a voice for the voiceless."
- Kyrie Irving pic.twitter.com/yE6E0GU03N
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) September 26, 2022
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