NBA

Kyrie Irving and conspiracy theories, explained: What Nets star has said and shared about flat Earth, COVID-19 vaccines and Alex Jones

Kyrie Irving is a seven-time All-Star. He is an NBA champion. He hit one of the most memorable shots in league history. His basketball skills and charitable contributions have made him a fan favorite.

And yet, despite all of his accomplishments, Irving-related conversations over the past few years have revolved around his opinions on off-court subjects.

Irving has been critical of the media ecosystem in the past, saying that those in the industry attempt to “control public perception” and referring to them as both “pawns” and “puppets.” While reporters and analysts certainly aren’t above reproach — look no further than the recent handling of the Ime Udoka story — Irving also hasn’t helped himself with how he has shared his beliefs.

The 30-year-old has been a lightning rod for controversy throughout his career, starting with his comments in 2017 regarding a long-debunked theory.

What did Kyrie Irving say about the flat-Earth theory?

During a February 2017 appearance on the “Road Trippin'” podcast with then-Cavaliers teammates Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson, Irving claimed that the Earth is flat. 

“It’s right in front of our faces,” Irving said. “I’m telling you it’s right in front of our faces. They lie to us. … There’s no concrete information except for the information that they’re giving us. They’re particularly putting you in a direction of what to believe and what not to believe.

“The truth is right there. You’ve just gotta go searching for it. I’ve been searching for it for a while.”

(The Earth is not flat. There is plenty of evidence that disproves the flat-Earth theory.)

In September 2017, Irving told 98.5 The Sports Hub that he was simply trolling everyone by introducing the topic, saying that he spun the media world into a “frenzy.”

“It created a division, or, literally, like, stand up there and let all these people throw tomatoes at me, or have somebody think that I’m somehow a different intellectual person because I believe that the world is flat and you think the world is round,” Irving said. “It created exactly that. It did exactly that — to where it became, like, because I think different, does that ever knock my intellectual capacity or the fact that I can think different things than you can? 

“That was the intent behind it. Like, do your own research. Like, don’t come to me and ask me. … At the end of the day, you’re gonna feel and believe what you want to feel. But don’t knock my life over here.”

However, Irving expanded on the theory while speaking to Geno Auriemma on the “Holding Court” podcast in October 2017. He told the UConn women’s basketball coach that he had figured out there is “no real picture of Earth” after doing his own research. 

He once again danced around the theory in a June 2018 interview with The New York Times’ Sopan Deb and wouldn’t directly answer whether he truly believed the Earth is flat.

“Can you openly admit that you know the Earth is constitutionally round? Like, you know that for sure? Like, I don’t know,” Irving said. “I was never trying to convince anyone that the world is flat. I’m not being an advocate for the world being completely flat.

“No, I don’t know. I really don’t. It’s fun to think about, though. It’s fun to have that conversation. It is absolutely fun because people get so agitated and mad.”

Irving attempted to finally put an end to the flat-Earth questions at the Forbes Under 30 event in October 2018. He apologized for not realizing how his words could impact young students and forcing science teachers to address the issue.

“At the time I was, like, huge into conspiracies,” Irving said. “Everybody’s been there. … At the time, you’re, like, innocent in it, but you realize the effect of the power of voice. And even if you believe in that, it’s, like, just don’t come out and say that stuff. That’s for intimate conversations because perception, how you’re received, it just changes.

“Like, no, I’m actually a smart-ass individual. It’s not like I was just going around saying that. At the time, I just didn’t realize the effect. I was definitely at that time like, ‘I’m a big conspiracy theorist. You can’t tell me anything.'”

What did Kyrie Irving say about COVID-19 vaccines?

There was much confusion about Irving’s decision to remain unvaccinated before the start of the 2021-22 season because he didn’t want to answer questions about his status, which prevented him from playing in home games.

Under New York City’s COVID guidelines, unvaccinated Knicks and Nets players were not allowed to enter their home arenas for games. The Nets initially didn’t let Irving play until he was eligible for all games, but they later allowed him to participate in road games.

“There’s just a lot of questions about what’s going on in the world of Kyrie, and I think I’d just love to just keep that private and handle it the right way with my team and go forward together with a plan,” Irving said at the Nets’ 2021 Media Day via Zoom. “Obviously I’m not able to be present there today, but that doesn’t mean that I’m putting any limits on the future of me being able to join the team.

“I just want to keep it that way, so please respect it, my privacy.”

In a September 2021 feature story on unvaccinated NBA players’ resistance to COVID protocols, Rolling Stone’s Matt Sullivan described how Irving had once again fallen down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole:

Irving, who serves as a vice president on the executive committee of the players’ union, recently started following and liking Instagram posts from a conspiracy theorist who claims that “secret societies” are implanting vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for “a plan of Satan.” This Moderna microchip misinformation campaign has spread across multiple NBA locker rooms and group chats, according to several of the dozen-plus current players, Hall-of-Famers, league executives, arena workers and virologists interviewed for this story over the past week.

(There are no microchips in COVID-19 vaccines. They also do not alter DNA.)

The Athletic’s Shams Charania published a report in October 2021 revealing more details behind Irving’s stance on the COVID-19 vaccine. Irving was not anti-vaccine or anti-science, multiple sources told Charania, but rather he was concerned for people “losing their jobs due to vaccine mandates.”

“Kyrie wants to be a voice for the voiceless,” one source told Charania. (As NBC News’ Ben Collins noted at the time, this is a common refrain among those in anti-vaccine groups online.)

Irving then spoke for himself during an Instagram Live session that same month, saying he was doing “what’s best for me.” He told his followers that his decision had nothing to do with the Nets or NBA, and he wasn’t part of the pro- or anti-vaccine crowd.

“I’m standing with all those that believe in what’s right and are doing what’s right for themselves,” Irving said. “Everybody has a personal choice with their lives. Everybody has a right to feel a certain type of way. Everybody’s entitled to their own opinions. Everybody’s entitled to do what they feel is best for themselves.”

Irving never reconsidered his stance, but he was able to play in home games beginning in March 2022 after New York City mayor Eric Adams changed the vaccine mandate. Following his first outing of the season at the Barclays Center, he said that his choice was all about “freedom.”

“I don’t think that’s a word that gets defined enough in our society, about the freedom to make choices with your life without someone telling you what the f— to do and whether that carries over to nuances of our society that politicians control, the government controls, or things people who are in power — the powers that may be, right? — control,” Irving said (via the New York Daily News).

“I’m standing for freedom, so that’s in all facets of my life. There’s nobody that’s enslaving me. I don’t want anyone telling me what to do with my life, and that’s just the way I am, and if I get tarnished in terms of my image and people slandering my name continually because those aren’t things that I forget.”

In April 2022, Irving reiterated that he made “the right decision for me.”

“I can really say that I stood firm on what I believed in, what I wanted to do with my body. I think that should be not just an American right, I think that should be a human right,” Irving said (via The Associated Press).

“And when you stand for something like that, in a nature of society that we’re in where we have a lot more followers than we do leaders, then you’re going to be forced into being seen or somebody as a black sheep that people can attack and can clickbait your name and say these things that don’t really describe who you are or what you live like on a day-to-day basis.”

After Mayor Adams announced the end of New York City’s vaccine mandate for private employers in September 2022, Irving tweeted out his frustration. He called the vaccine requirement one of “the biggest violations of human rights in history.”

What did Kyrie Irving say about the Alex Jones video?

In September 2022, Irving reposted a 2002 video of radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaking about the “New World Order,” a theory that suggests “a cabal of elites is working behind the scenes to orchestrate global events to enslave the global populace.” The video was originally posted from The Free Thought Project Instagram account.

“Yes, there have been corrupt empires. Yes, they manipulate. Yes, there are secret societies. Yes, there have been oligarchies throughout history,” Jones said in the clip. “And yes, today in 2002, there is a tyrannical organization calling itself the New World Order.”

Irving faced immediate backlash for sharing a video featuring Jones, who has been sued by the parents of Sandy Hook victims because he falsely claimed that the 2012 shooting was staged. The Southern Poverty Law Center has referred to Jones as “almost certainly the most prolific conspiracy theorist in contemporary America.”

While streaming on his Twitch channel, Irving discussed the strong reaction.

“‘You’re trending on Twitter. You’re gonna get cancelled. Kyrie, I can’t believe you posted that — how insensitive,'” Irving said. “Nah, bro. This has nothing to do with being insensitive. … I’m just not out here to lie. I’m just not — I don’t want to lie.

“I’ve been lied to damn near my whole life about history, about where I come from. I’m just tired of it.”

During an October 2022 press conference, Irving distanced himself from Jones’ conspiracy theory about the Sandy Hook shooting, but he declared that Jones’ words in the clip he posted were “true.”

“I do not stand with Alex Jones’ position, narrative, court case that he had with Sandy Hook, or any of the kids that felt like they had to relive trauma, or parents that had to relive trauma, or to be dismissive to all the lives that were lost during that tragic event,” Irving said. “My post was a post from Alex Jones that he did in the early ’90s or late ’90s about secret societies in America of occults, and it’s true.

“So, I wasn’t identifying with anything of being a [campaigner] for Alex Jones or anything. I’m just there to post. And it’s funny. It’s actually hilarious because out of all the things I posted that day, that was the one post that everyone chose to see. It just goes back to the way our world is and works. I’m not here to complain about it. I just exist.”

What did Kyrie Irving say about the antisemitic film?

On Oct. 27, Irving tweeted a link to the Amazon page of the film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which is based on a book of the same name that is “stuffed with antisemitic tropes,” according to Rolling Stone.

Nets owner Joe Tsai released a statement on Oct. 28, saying that he was “disappointed” in Irving’s apparent support for a “book full of antisemitic disinformation.” The NBA issued a statement the next day, saying that “hate speech of any kind is unacceptable and runs counter to the NBA’s values of equality, inclusion and respect.”

Irving tweeted on Oct. 29 that he is not antisemitic and “meant no disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs.”

He addressed his post in more detail during his media availability that night after the Nets’ 125-116 loss to the Pacers. Irving defended his decision to share the link and pushed back on the idea that he was promoting the film or book.

“I’m not here to argue over a person or a culture or a religion or what they believe,” Irving said. “Nah, this is what’s here. It’s on a public platform. Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody? Did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people?

“So, out of all of the judgment that people got for me posting, without talking to me, and then I respect what Joe said, but there has a lot to do with not ego or pride of how proud I am to be [of] African heritage, but also to be living as a free Black man here in America, knowing the historical complexities for me to get here.

“So, I’m not going to stand down on anything that I believe in. I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.”

Irving later deleted the tweet that included the link to the film. Brooklyn did not make him available to speak to reporters after its next game.

Jerald Mckinney

Jerald Mckinney

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