Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith has completely reversed course over comments he made during COVID about vaccine skepticism.
In Oct. 2021, the Brooklyn Nets said they were not allowing point guard Kyrie Irving to practice or play basketball with the team until he got the coronavirus vaccine.
‘I need to do better. I’m not alone, but I’m responsible for me.’
Smith was among those who heavily criticized Irving for his vaccine reticence.
“Kyrie Irving, I happen to believe, is an intelligent brother whose heart is in the right place,” Smith said at the time. “But now, you’ve regressed to an alarming level of self-righteousness. It not only makes you look hypocritical and untrustworthy, it makes you look what I know you are not, which is flat-out stupid.”
Smith went on to catch the coronavirus despite claiming to have been vaccinated.
In a video published Thursday, Smith cited the appearance before Congress of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the architect of the U.S. coronavirus response, to explain his change of heart.
“There were many people encouraging folks to [get vaccinated] anyway. Kyrie Irving wasn’t one of them,” Smith said. “In my opinion, particularly hindsight-wise, it didn’t make him stubborn or selfish; it made him brave.”
He went on to apologize to Irving.
“Kyrie Irving did nobody wrong. We did him wrong. I did him wrong. And for that, I’m sincerely sorry,” Smith added. “I just thought it was important to say that. … I need to do better. I’m not alone, but I’m responsible for me.”
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He concluded, “I need to do better. And I will.”
Fauci refused to answer questions from members of Congress and instead over and over again pled the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
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