Charles Barkley Fumes Over Kyrie Irving Being Unvaccinated

NBA on TNT’s halftime hosts Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith have been arguing over small things for years to entertain their viewers. On Tuesday night, they were at it again, this time over Kyrie Irving’s vaccination stance.

Kenny Smith said he “empathizes” with Irving’s discomfort with choosing to get the vaccine, but Barkley feels differently. Barkley said that Irving’s decision was selfish and that when you choose to get the vaccine, “you don’t get the vaccine for yourself, you get it for other people.”

Barkley should take everything with a grain, as most other things, including his Tuesday comments.

Barkley’s statement implies that getting the vaccine somehow keeps other people from getting COVID-19 and that once you are vaccinated, you erase the risk of yourself getting sick with coronavirus.

Well, we know that vaccinated does not mean immune, and it certainly does not do anything to 100 percent ensure other people’s safety.

Lyssette Carona MD, a Cleveland Clinic infectious disease specialist, stated that it is possible that people who have been vaccinated could still get COVID-19. This means you still can spread the virus to others. It can help you fight COVID. It is possible. It is not a magic cure for all sickness. It is not.

So “getting it for other people” seems like a weak argument to use when criticizing another person for their decision. The argument relies on emotion and is not grounded in the fact that sickness and COVID-19, no matter how we make our decisions, are a result of an imperfect world and we cannot eliminate them.

Barkley is not the only one who thinks this way. He or she may be too worried about getting sick to keep living normal lives and need everyone to care for their emotional well-being. That is selfish, even more so than the person who doesn’t get the COVID shot because they prefer it.

The decision to get vaccinated is entirely up to you. Kyrie Irving can choose not to get vaccine. However, no one, including the Round Mound of Rebound, should force Kyrie into changing his mind.