Has the Barclays Center protest ruined Kyrie’s image even further?
How it’s view
As we have seen in recent days, protesters have aligned themselves outside of the Barclays Center in New York with signs that read stand with Kyrie as they try to create awareness for the vaccine mandates. As Kyrie previously stated in his Instagram live a few weeks ago many people are losing their jobs because of the vaccine mandates and thus creating civil discourse in New York City because of this “unfair treatment“ due to the vaccine mandates.
Nonetheless because of the protesters and their signs that read “Stand with Kyrie” this protest has been linked to Kyrie Irving and his unwillingness to get the vaccine.
This protest has been seen in multiple ways having to do with job loss and the other having to do with support in Kyrie Irving‘s endeavors to play without the vaccine essentially doing his job without having the vaccine, which he wants for all citizens. Many have speculated that this is a way for Kyrie to have the vaccine mandates lifted. Others see it as the citizens taking a stand in the heat of Kyrie Irving‘s stance against the vaccine, creating their own voice using Kyrie Irving as their poster boy.
How it affects Kyrie
While Kyrie Irving has not yet spoken out about the recent protests, we can only gauge and assume that since his name has been associated with the protest so heavily, this will only come back to serve as a negative jab on Kyrie Irving‘s reputation and image.
After his Instagram live response to all the outside noise that he was hearing, many people saw his articulation of thought as “unclear” and without purpose. They also saw his absence as a selfish act against his teammates and the organization that he is playing for. And now with recent events from the protests we may see more background noise that relates carry Irving to the protests and how this situation and circumstance can only make things worse for Kyrie Irving‘s name in public image.
It is appropriate to mention that Kyrie Irving has not outright told people to protest the mandates; rather, he just wants to use his platform to voice his particular stance on the subject and the vaccine mandates. Nonetheless the situation has made it difficult for Kyrie Irving to continue his career and to continue to have an unslander name in the NBA.
However there is some ray of optimism in this entire situation. Hopefully with protests many people can have their voices heard and action can be taken within the state to appease those that do not want to get vaccinated, and as such if this happens we can also bring Kyrie Irving back to the court for the enjoyment of all the fans and supporters out there to watch him play and for Kyrie Irving to continue to play the game that he loves.
