Kyrie Irving has sent another cryptic symbol on Instagram, amidst his absence from the Brooklyn Nets over his refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
The mercurial star had sent out a symbol of confusing origin this past week, and Irving returned to Instagram on Monday with a photo of Morpheus from “The Matrix” trilogy. Played by Laurence Fishburne, Morpheus was a strong leader who eventually became a proponent of rationality.
“It’s not about the money, baby,” Irving said on Instagram Live in mid-October. “It’s about choosing what’s best for you. You think I really want to lose money? You think I really want to give up on my dream to go after a championship? You think I really just want to give up my job? You think I really just want to sit at home and not go after the things with my teammates that I’ve been able to grow with, to learn with? … You think I want to give up my livelihood because of a mandate? Because I don’t have accommodations? Because I’m unvaccinated? Come on.
“I’m not going to be used as a person in this agenda. It’s not about the Nets. It’s not about the organization. It’s not about the NBA. It’s not politics. It’s not any one thing that I’m pinpointing. It’s just about the freedom of what I want to do.”
Former Knicks and Nets star point guard Stephon Marbury were among those who commented on Irving’s post, which did not include a caption.
“It’s bigger than basketball,” Marbury wrote.
The Nets have started out a relatively disappointing 4-3 on the season, led by Kevin Durant and James Harden.
Irving would have been unable to play in Nets’ home games due to New York City mandates. The team then decided before the season that having Irving, 29, as a part-time road player was an untenable situation. The Nets announced Irving would be away from the team until he got vaccinated or the mandates in New York City changed.
Irving has given no indication that he plans to change course on his vaccine decision.
“Obviously, Kyrie has his own belief, so I respect that. But we have to make a team decision,” Nets owner Joe Tsai told ESPN.com on Oct. 29. “This is not a decision about him. This is a decision about where we go as a team. And it is just not tenable for us to have a team with a player that comes in and out, no home games, only away games. What do you do in practice then?
“This week we have a whole stretch of six home games, so we won’t have Kyrie. So it became pretty clear to us. We are very much aligned among myself, [GM] Sean [Marks], [the] coaching staff that this has to be [the decision], especially since we’re a team with pretty lofty aspirations. We don’t see any other way of running this team.”