Posted on 03/16/2022 12:06:27 PM PDT by conservative98
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ripped the National Basketball Association (NBA) Tuesday after fining the Brooklyn Nets $50,000 for allowing an unvaccinated Kyrie Irving to step inside the locker room.
“One final example for just how asinine this is: the NBA just fined Kyrie Irving $50,000 because [of] their rules, the rules of New York City,” Cruz said. “Here’s how idiotic it is: Kyrie Irving could go to a game, could sit in the stands not being vaccinated, which he did. That was perfectly okay. But if he actually plays, that’s not permissible.”
“Because apparently in addition to Diet Coke and peanuts — which we’re told were magical cures for COVID — touching a basketball makes you a lethal threat,” he continued. “This is asinine dishonest theater. Let Kyrie play. By the way, if Brooklyn won’t let Kyrie play, I’m going to make a pitch to you directly. Kyrie, come to Houston, play for the Rockets. We’ll let you play. He’s a hell of a player. Uncle Drew’s being benched by asinine Democratic theater.”
The senator said the mandate and fine are not health or science-related, but rather “political theater” that must come to an end.
Irving was permitted to sit courtside at the Barclays Center in New York City alongside his teammates without a mask at the Sunday Nets-Knicks game. The team was then fined for violating a local mandate for allowing Irving into the locker room during halftime.
Irving’s teammate, Kevin Durant, said Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams was trying to “flex” his authority by enforcing the city’s mandate during a Sunday press briefing. Durant said the fine made no sense since there were already unvaccinated people inside the building.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
.@SenTedCruz: "Let Kyrie Irving play. If Brooklyn won't let Kyrie play, I'm going to make a pitch to you directly. Kyrie, come to Houston, play for the Rockets. We'll let you play. He's a hell of a player. Uncle Drew's being benched by asinine Democratic theater. This is stupid." pic.twitter.com/3MsmSZNnXj— The Hill (@thehill) March 15, 2022
Follow the science.
“..Follow the science...”
Wish we could but Fauxi had disappeared from the face of the earth. /s. He’s gone, but certainly NOT forgotten.
Irving did violate an NBA rule:
Rule 3 ; Players, substitutes, Coaches
Section IV—The Coach and Others
e. If a player, coach or assistant coach is suspended from a game or games, he shall not at any time before, during or after such game or games appear in any part of the arena or stands where his team is playing. A violation of this rule shall call for an automatic fine of $2000.
Because he refused to vaccinate, which is his choice, he is suspended from playing home games or even being inside the arena during play under rule 3. For all intents he cannot be a spectator inside the area unless his contract is ended and he is no longer affiliated with the team. He wasn’t supposed to be there at all let alone allowed into the locker room. He was contractually bound to follow the rules and didn’t along with the team organization for allowing him to come in.
It’s just a rule in the NBA. I didn’t write it, and whether I agree with it or not, doesn’t matter. It’s the rules the players agree with and by their signature agree to follow to be paid enormous amounts of money in the business. They should follow the rules they have or change them. But at the moment, he is suspended by his own choice.
wy69
Hey, hey, my, my
Fauci’s rule will never die
There’s more to the picture
Than meets the eye
Hey, hey, my, my...
It's actually worse than that. Players on the opposing team are not held to the illegal diktat in New York City and don't have to get the Jim Jones Jab so Kyrie's teammates aren't protected from anyone.
This is not a choice. It ought to be your choice to get the COVID vaccine or not. And no we should not be following bogus unconstitutional rules that don’t follow the science. A simple act of civil disobedience has the power to effect great change in this world.
“It ought to be your choice to get the COVID vaccine or not.”
It was his choice, he chose not to get the vax. A contract is a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law. The club’s and the players association recognize the rulebook that was agreed upon before he signed to perform his task as a player within the rulebook, which also defines his work and can govern his disagreements with it.
“A simple act of civil disobedience has the power to effect great change in this world.”
It might, but not this case. It makes no difference in the long run if a basketball player decides he doesn’t want the vax and then violates the NBA rules that were agreed upon by the association that represents him by doing exactly what he and the league knows was wrong.
It’s no different than Ron Artest.
COMMENTS ON THE RULES
PLAYER CONDUCT—SPECTATORS
J. Any coach, player, trainer, or other team bench person who deliberately enters the spectator stands during the game will be automatically ejected and the incident reported by e-mail to Basketball Operations.
They even define the seats with this:
The first row of seats is considered the beginning of the stands.
What he did had nothing to do with a protest of the vaccine. If you’re saying it is okay to break a rule because you want to and he can get away with not having to play at select games because he makes so much money that he doesn’t care and puts a personal preference ahead of his profession, then that’s your choice. But consider a soldier that signs an enlistment contract knowing he could get killed in his profession. Is it okay to ignore lawful orders because he chose to? Or how about the cop that doesn’t want to stay within the rules and just ignores crimes for preference? It’s no different. It’s just eh contract world. And what he did had little if any effect in the real world. Plus I’ll bet hardly anyone looked up the rules on his actions. They didn’t care...he’s a hero. B.S.
He signed the contract to make that money and agreed to stay within it’s rules. He broke them and the club did also. He shouldn’t be fined for making the choice he did. But both he and the club should be fined for violating the rules book. If he wishes to go to an anti-vax protest, please do. But violating a contract is a hard lesson sometimes to learn. And I’ll bet the league doesn’t have the pelotas to do it.
wy69
Irving is not suspended. And the league said he can sit in the stands because he wasn’t a player that day and because until this week unvaccinated fans could sit in the stands.
The league doesn’t have a vaccine mandate. It is a city mandate and Kyrie Irving just proved the idiocy of it.
If unvaccinated visiting players and unvaccinated spectators can watch/play at Barclays Center, then an unvaccinated Nets player should be allowed to do the same. Period.
All this talk about follow the rules is complete sense. The current Mayor says he cannot change the rule because Bill DeBlasio ordered it and he is just following the rules. If the previous mayor can order a rule, another mayor can take it away. This is all Covid theater that Eric Adams is playing.
And if you want to play it’s a choice and the legal game, get the vaccine or we are going to take away your job. And by the way we are not going to provide accommodation and are going to blow off your exemption. That is not a choice. That is tyranny. When you have an objection, this can’t just be ignored and blown off. This violates your rights and all kinds of federal laws: Civil Rights Acto of 1964, EEOC, your unalienable rights, etc. Everyone has rights no matter what Fauci says, some commissioner of a sporting league, CEO of a company or a Mayor has to say.
An update:
The team did get fined for his entering the locker room and it was done by the NBA, not by the NYC.
As per the suspension, you are correct. They finagled a way for him to play in away games by calling it “inactive.” Originally it was going to be a suspension until he vaxxed.
However he is not allowed to participate in the practices or games at home. If it was a full suspension, he would have an offer to appeal the decision to dock his pay. But because it is an inactive decision, which is a cop out for the team, he has no appeal. And he is the VP of the NBAPA.
Turns out he can practice and play in any other city, except Toronto. But I’m not sure if he can be considered inactive at home as he is not allowed to play or be involved with the team as a team functioner.
An inactive designation is not IR. So if they go into a game where one of the players on the active list becomes unavailable, if they are playing at home, he cannot be made active. So if they do that with all three status players and they need them, he can’t help at home or in Toronto.
Very confusing.
wy69
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