Stephen A. Smith, the highly regarded basketball analyst, apologized to Kyrie Irving for criticizing him during the pandemic for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. “Kyrie Irving, no matter what we think, may have been more right than we have given him credit for, and unquestionably was more vilified than he deserved. And ladies and gentlemen, it starts with me,” Smith said.
On July 30, after watching Dr. Anthony Fauci’s testimony in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, basketball analyst Stephen A. Smith broke from his vacation to record an apology video to basketball star Kyrie Irving.
Like nearly everyone in the media, Smith had criticized Irving in 2021 for electing not to take the COVID-19 jab despite the NBA mandate that all players must. That caused Irving to miss many games while he was on the roster for the Brooklyn Nets.
After welcoming viewers, Smith began his nearly 20-minute apology video on his “Stephen A. Smith Show” with:
“I felt compelled to come on the air because ladies and gentlemen, I have to do something that I’ve done in the past, but haven’t had to do so much in my career … and that is to issue an apology.”
Later, Smith said:
“This is not about him, the basketball player. This is about him, the man. The reality is, Kyrie Irving, no matter what we think, may have been more right than we have given him credit for, and unquestionably was more vilified than he deserved. And ladies and gentlemen, it starts with me.
“Telling y’all before on many, many occasions: I’m a man. If I’m wrong, I’ll say I’m wrong. But when it comes to Kyrie Irving … I can’t apologize strongly enough.”
He continued:
“But the real point is we can’t condemn those who were a bit suspicious and raise the proverbial eyebrow about what was going on. That includes not raising that proverbial eyebrow at somebody like Kyrie Irving.
“Kyrie Irving is a phenomenal, phenomenal basketball player. He’s also a good brother who’s conscientious — and never intended to hurt anybody — just exercised his God-given rights as a man and as an American citizen to do something differently than the public was pressuring him to do.
“I wasn’t alone; there were many, many people who took that [critical] position. They were wrong. And I was wrong. He deserved better. Especially from me.”
In his opening remarks of the Senate hearing on July 29, chair Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) addressed his colleagues and everyone in the room, saying:
“Frankly, the American people deserve an apology. I hope today Dr. Fauci will come clean, admit it was a mistake to fund dangerous research in China, and admit that the risk of this dangerous research exceeded any possible benefits.
“Ask forgiveness and pledge to help our government devise safeguards so a man-made epidemic never happens again.”
As reported in The MAHA Report, Fauci did not apologize. He pleaded the Fifth Amendment 111 times.
Smith, who, like many Americans during the pandemic, played it safe and dared not question authority, was presented with new information. That caused him to change his perspective.
We should applaud that.
“Kyrie Irving did nobody wrong,” Smith said. “We did him wrong. I did him wrong. And for that, I’m sincerely sorry. I just thought it was important to say that.”
Originally published by The MAHA Report.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Children’s Health Defense.
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