Kyrie Irving got himself into quite a bit of trouble this past week as he was caught on camera at an indoor party while not wearing a mask. Of course, this revelation came in the midst of his absence from the Nets where he told the team that he would be gone for "personal reasons." Many throughout the NBA community were upset with Irving's conduct, including Stephen A. Smith who dared him to retire.
Today, Irving faced the consequences of his actions as he was fined $50,000 for breaking the NBA's COVID protocol. He also missed out on $800,000 worth of game checks for all of his recent absences. Needless to say, Irving was hit hard financially, although the team expects him to be back out on the court come Saturday.
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Upon learning this news, many fans were upset with the stiff punishment thrown Kyrie's way, while others felt like it simply wasn't enough. One upset individual decided to pull out their thesauraus, saying "Purely tyrannical and a theater punishment to condition the public to except irrational and absurd punishment for ANYONE trying to live and behave like a human in a communist tyrannical technocracy." Others took a different approach, saying the punishment should have been steeper. "50k? Guy gets paid 35mil and fine him 50k? Haha that’s trash," one user said.
The reactions to the fine continued to be split and it's clear that there is a divide between people who think the virus is serious, and those who think it's not that much of a big deal. Considering over one million people have died due to the virus, it's clear that it needs to be taken seriously, and Kyrie's actions only put people at risk.
You can read some of the reactions, below. Also, be sure to give us your takes in the comments section.
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