Charles Barkley Rips Unvaccinated Kyrie Irving for Being a Part-Time Player: ‘I Don’t Think It’s Fair to the Game’

Brooklyn Nets fans were excited to see Kyrie Irving make his grand return to the team this week, but Charles Barkley was outraged over the point guard’s decision to be a part-time player.

Irving has refused to get vaccinated against Covid, barring him from entering the Brooklyn Nets arena for home games, but the 29-year-old superstar is eligible to practice with the team and play on the road. According to Barkley, Irving is doing his team and the NBA a disservice by acting as a roadshow.

“If you want to make a political point, which is silly and stupid, and not get vaccinated, that’s fine with me,” Barkley ranted Thursday night on TNT. “But I don’t think it’s fair for me…If I said to you guys, ‘Well, I’m only gonna work certain nights.’ Like, during the playoffs…We’re on every night except Friday during the playoffs. If I said, ‘You know what, I’m not gonna work on the weekend,’ I don’t think that’s fair to you guys.

“To me, I have an issue with the entire thing,” Barkley continued. “Kyrie is a heck of a player. But to only play in road games, I don’t think it’s fair to the game, but more importantly, I don’t think it’s fair to the team.”

Barkley’s colleague Kenny Smith argues it’s not Irving choosing to be a part-time player, New York City’s Covid protocols are preventing the All-Star point guard from playing in home games.

For the first two months of the season, the Nets seemed to agree with Barkley. With Irving refusing to get vaccinated, Brooklyn chose to bar him from the team until he was compliant with New York City’s Covid vaccine mandates. But as Covid ran rampant through the team’s fully vaccinated roster last month, the Nets chose to welcome Irving back as a part-time player.

“I’m not even sure what they realized,” Barkley said of the Nets decision to change their stance on Irving. “They’re like, ‘we’re gonna let you play in half the games.’ And I just have a problem with that personally.”

Watch above via TNT