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Nike Chooses To Stay Silent On Kyrie Irving’s Anti-Vaccine Stance

Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status continues to be one of the biggest storylines this season. The controversial Brooklyn Nets star chooses not to get vaccinated and now has to live with the consequences of that choice. 

Irving is ineligible to play home games due to New York City’s vaccine mandate. On top of that, per NBA’s mandate, Irving will not be paid for any games that he misses as a result of refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Despite the controversy, Nike, Irving’s biggest sponsor, plans to release the Kyrie 8s next month November. Since sales would definitely benefit if Kyrie was playing, Nike wants Irving to receive a vaccine.

To address this situation, TIME Magazine now reached out to Nike for comment on the Irving situation, but Nike chose to remain silent on the topic, without answering the question.

“From Nike’s perspective, athletes do have freedom of choice and, at the end of the day, the bottom line is still the bottom line. Kyrie Irving sells a significant number of sneakers for Nike. That kind of thing, at least for the time being, allows them to take more of a hands off approach.”