Floyd Mayweather Hails Kyrie Irving for Refusing to Get Vaccinated: ‘An Enslaved Mind Follows the Crowd’
One day after droves of anti-vaxxers aggressively broke through barriers at the Brooklyn Nets home opener in support of Kyrie Irving, Floyd Mayweather hailed the All-Star point guard’s stance against the vaccine.
“America is the land of the free. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and supposedly, freedom to choose,” Mayweather read in a social media video.
Choice is defined as an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities. America gave us the choice to take the vaccine or not take the vaccine. As time moves on, that choice is gradually being stripped from us. pic.twitter.com/7F6RsWaDkL
— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) October 25, 2021
“Never be controlled by money,” said the polarizing boxer who has earned more than a billion dollars in his career. “I respect you for having some integrity and being your own man. A free mind makes his own choices, an enslaved mind follows the crowd.”
Irving remains one of the most high-profile unvaccinated athletes in American professional sports. While a number of NFL, NBA and MLB players have refused the vaccine, New York City mandates won’t allow Irving to play in Nets home games until he gets jabbed.
Although he’s technically eligible to play in most road games, the Nets chose not to use Irving as a part-time player, barring him from the team until the All-Star is compliant with local vaccine mandates. Irving is set to lose more than half of his $34 million salary this season by refusing to get vaccinated.
“Stand for something or fall for anything,” Mayweather continued. “One man can lead a revolution to stand up and fight for what’s right. One choice, one word, one action can change the world. It’s crazy how people hate you for being a leader. I hope your actions encourage many others to stand up and say, ‘enough is enough.’”
While conservative pundits and anti-vaxxers have flaunted to Irving in recent weeks, the Nets point guard remains relatively quiet on the issue and has not addressed the mob attempting to break into the Barclays Center on his behalf.
Two weeks ago, Irving posted a 20-minute video on Instagram, trying to explain his stance and play peacemaker, but the lengthy message only sparked more questions and concerns about the former NBA champion.
