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Former Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving filled his stint with the team with more than just highlights. It also came with a string of controversies. In a stunning revelation, Kyrie Irving shared that during the turmoil of the COVID-19 vaccine suspension, he didn’t want to stay sidelined. He wanted out. According to him, during his Brooklyn suspension, he “asked the Nets to release me” rather than stay in limbo. Eventually, following his turbulent stint in Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving was traded to the Mavericks.
That admission landed firmly in the spotlight. With New York City’s indoor vaccine mandate rendering him ineligible for home games, Irving found himself blocked from team facilities and shut out from on-court action. His solution? Self-liberation. As he told reporters, “Can you please just release me?”, a direct plea that speaks volumes about his mindset during that fractured period.
This episode adds another layer to one of the NBA’s most polarizing chapters. Civic regulations tied the Nets’ hands and barred them from allowing their star guard into home games. For Irving, that translated into a season spent in purgatory: no games, no practice, no sense of belonging. Rather than cling to a contract that left him frozen out, he wanted the freedom to move on.
The timing couldn’t have been more consequential. Brooklyn had constructed its championship hopes around Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden, only for consistency to evaporate amid COVID-19 politics and internal strife. The Nets abruptly removed the star from the equation, and the chemistry quickly unraveled.
Now, reflecting on that rocky stretch, Irving’s candor is striking. He didn’t couch his request in official parlance, he spoke plainly. Kyrie Irving reiterated that it wasn’t about the vaccine suspension but about his autonomy and agency. It echoes his longstanding emphasis on personal choice and bodily sovereignty, a stance he’s reiterated in previous statements about the vaccine mandate.
In the end, he remained on the roster, sidelined but under contract, missing much of the season. Kyrie Irving's request went unanswered, and the Nets pressed on. Yet his revelation shines a harsh light on the tensions between public policy, personal liberty, and professional obligation.
As Kyrie Irving turns the page, now thriving with the Mavericks, the story lingers: a superstar unmoored, desperate for control when the court became off-limits.
