An NBA icon is coming for Kyrie Irving after the current superstar’s latest bizarre decision.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and running mate of Magic Johnson with the dynastic Showtime Los Angeles Lakers, isn’t afraid to express his opinions. Neither is Irving, the Brooklyn Nets point guard.
Irving’s strong stance against COVID-19 vaccinations weren’t even what got to Abdul-Jabbar this time, it was his bizarre support of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones last month with an Instagram post that included a 2002 clip of Jones.
“Kyrie Irving would be dismissed as a comical buffoon if it weren’t for his influence over young people,” Abdul-Jabbar, 75, wrote on his Substack.
In his post, Irving had showcased the Jones claim that a group of global leaders called the New World Order was releasing plagues for profit, the New York Post reported.
At the time Jones was on trial and being sued by parents of 20 children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Jones has claimed nobody was actually killed there and that it was a hoax.
“Alex Jones is one of the most despicable human beings alive and to associate with him means you share his stench,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote.
“Kyrie Irving would be dismissed as a comical buffoon if it weren’t for his influence over young people who look up to athletes. When I look at some of the athletes who have used their status to actually improve society — Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, and more — it becomes clear how much Irving has tarnished the reputations of all athletes who strive to be seen as more than dumb jocks.”
Abdul-Jabbar continued, referencing a prior opinion piece.
“Last October, I wrote a piece about Kyrie Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 … and why this reckless choice was destructive to the country and especially the Black community where he would be an influential role model. The facts proved that accusation to be true. Irving didn’t care. He continued to promote his anti-vax sentiments — regardless of the cost in lives and health to others — proclaiming himself a ‘martyr.’ Not kidding,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote.
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“We might have just left him alone to stew in his own gelatinous ignorance. Rich and famous people get away with saying dumb things all the time because their money isolates them from consequences. They surround themselves with Yes-people whose job is to confirm whatever hare-brained ideas they have. Yes, sir, Mr. Irving, the Earth has never been flatter.”
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