“I know the consequences here, and if it means that I’m judged and demonized for that, that’s just what it is.” At a time when the whole world was looking to put the chapter of the COVID-19 pandemic behind them, Kyrie Irving made headlines, in October 2021, after announcing that he had refused to get himself vaccinated! This created trouble for the then-Brooklyn Nets player. After all, he could not participate in home games due to New York’s vaccine mandate. He was still available for road games, but his absence had a detrimental impact. Therefore, before welcoming Irving with open arms, Mark Cuban admitted to having held a completely different perception of the shooting guard.

The former Dallas Mavericks majority owner joined Shannon Sharpe in a recent segment of the latter’s Club Shay Shay podcast. During the same, when asked about his earliest perception of Kyrie Irving, Cuban wasted no time in revealing, “Honestly, before I did the work, I thought he was a team killer. Cause I never talked…there was no reason for me to talk to people about him, right? It’s just like ‘Hey, if he doesn’t want to play when the Mavs come to town, great. If things don’t work out on another team, great.’” However, the Shark Tank star had to look into him when the opportunity came to acquire him in a trade. It was from that point that Cuban changed his mind. He revealed that he talked to a couple of people and “everybody loved him.” Lo-and-behold, you had Luka Doncic’s second-hand man ready to go!

Mark Cuban wouldn’t reference COVID-19 until the later part of the interview. However, it was an important aspect of why Kyrie carried the ‘Team Killer’ reputation. After all, according to an article by Medium, he often reportedly created trouble due to his alleged actions.

In his final years with the Cavaliers, the player demanded a trade. This request came after he reportedly felt held back by LeBron James in earning the top spot. With the Celtics, he earned the chance to lead the team during the 2019 playoffs. However, he reportedly faltered and lost 1-4 to the Bucks during the Conference Semi-Finals. After promising to return, he left the Celtics for the Brooklyn Nets. This created an animosity in the minds of Boston fans that continues to this date. With the Nets, we saw what happened.

Fortunately, the player seems to have settled well with the Dallas Mavericks. Plus, he may well be on his way to permanently removing the ‘team killer’ tag from his identity. In the end, Irving’s vaccination status didn’t matter.

“A lot of that is maturity, but a lot of it was circumstances too. How often is COVID going to hit and lead to those circumstances? What we learned was that you let Kai be Kai,” the billionaire added during the podcast.

Mark Cuban’s remarks couldn’t have come at a better time. After all, the world had just started possibly forgetting about Kyrie Irving’s COVID saga. However, the interview became only the second biggest news story that brought a resurgence of the controversy.

“The truth is always revealed in the light”: Kyrie Irving feels vindicated after a major update puts NYC COVID Policy Architect in a bad light

Yesterday, social media users received an unexpected treat. A leaked clip of Dr. Jay Verma started making the rounds of the internet. Described as the “architect” of NYC’s COVID-19 policies, he could be seen discussing the same without being allegedly aware that he was being recorded. He brought up Kyrie Irving’s name, describing him as an “a*s”. Furthermore, he seemed allegedly glad of the fact that his policies had an effect on the player’s career.

“This is a fun part of my life…The @WSJ wrote a whole story about me being the one that blocked Kyrie Irving from playing basketball,” said Dr Verma in the clip.

Soon enough, the clip caught the attention of Kyrie Irving himself. He highlighted it on his official X account and wrote, “GOD is truly the greatest and the TRUTH is always revealed in the light. I am grateful I am not alone on this mission.” He added a quote at the end that stated, “Rise up out of the ashes no matter what,” before concluding it with “Hélà.”

While Mark Cuban no longer remains the majority owner, he may have his expectations set on Irving. So will thousands of other Dallas fans, who want to see the Mavericks not only achieve the same level of success as last year but go slightly further and bring home the championship title.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.