Duke men's basketball assistant coach Nolan Smith took to Twitter to voice his thoughts on the current Kyrie Irving COVID-19 vaccine situation with the Brooklyn Nets.
Early Tuesday, the Nets announced that Irving would no longer be allowed to participate in team activities until he was vaccinated. Irving and the Nets had went weeks without explicitly answering whether Irving was vaccinated, but Nets general manager Sean Marks cleared up any confusion on the matter Tuesday when The New York Times asked if Irving was vaccinated.
Marks said, “If he was vaccinated, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. I think that’s probably pretty clear.”
Smith gave his take on the matter hours after. Irving and Smith were teammates during Smith's senior year and Irving's lone season as a Blue Devil in 2010-11.
Smith is a leader in the Durham community. He organized a Black Lives Matter protest in Krzyzewskiville in August 2020 after the Kenosha, Wis., police shooting of Jacob Blake and has been vocal in other social justice initiatives, including a get out the vote initiative with Vote Riders last November. He has been recognized as the Tar Heel of the Month by The News & Observer and received the George H.W. Bush Point of Lights Inspiration award.
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Jake Piazza is a Trinity senior and was sports editor of The Chronicle's 117th volume.