Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts to a call during the fourth quarter of the the game against the New York Knicks at Barclays Center on January 28, 2023, in New York City. (Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)
By Bryan Chai September 22, 2024 at 6:00am
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving may have a litigious bone to pick with the city he used to play in.
That’s because Dr. Jay Varma — described by the New York Post as “the man behind New York City’s draconian COVID response under Bill de Blasio” — was recently caught on camera, almost gleefully admitting he targeted Irving for being an “a**.”
The videos were shared by conservative pundit and content creator Steven Crowder, who described Varma as the former “NYC Covid Policy Architect.”
You can watch the relevant video below:
WARNING: The following video contains language that some viewers may find offensive.
BREAKING: Former NYC Covid Policy Architect Dr. Jay Varma Bragged About Being The Person Responsible For Blocking @KyrieIrving From Playing Basketball For The @BrooklynNets After Irving Refused To Take The Covid Vaccine
“He refused to get vaccinated.”
“He’s an ass.”
“Because… https://t.co/ttZ77QdU2k pic.twitter.com/3VGV3LdAqd
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) September 19, 2024
“There was a basketball player named Kyrie Irving,” Varma began in the clip.
“Who?” asks the undercover journalist.
Do you think Kyrie Irving has a legal case against this doctor?
“Kyrie Irving,” Varma repeated, removing all doubt about who he was talking about. “He refused to get vaccinated. But because he played for the team in Brooklyn, because of the vaccine mandates that I passed, he was not allowed to play.”
Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets from 2019 until a blockbuster 2023 trade that saw him go to the Mavs, due in part to the controversy he stirred over his vaccine refusal.
“And so it became this huge national issue about why Kyrie Irving wasn’t allowed to play basketball, because he was refusing to get vaccinated,” Varma continued.
The seemingly proud doctor added: “So, like, this is a fun part of my life. So I got to be on… The Wall Street Journal wrote a whole story about me being the one that blocked Kyrie Irving from playing basketball.”
The undercover video then cut to a different clip of Varma, in which the doctor denigrated Irving’s character.
“I just think he’s asinine,” Varma is seen saying. “He’s an a**.”
Varma then made a curious equivalency that he wouldn’t tell Irving how to dribble or shoot a basketball.
“Don’t tell me, like, how the science works,” Varma complained.
While the Irving video is unseemly enough (no public health officials should be targeting private citizens, “a**” or not), Varma may face much larger consequences, thanks to Crowder’s sleuthing.
The other video captured by Crowder shows Varma bragging about how he wasn’t beholden to any of the “draconian” measures implemented by him, when the doctor basically admitted to partying at drug-fueled parties during lockdowns, according to the Post.
“I did all this deviant, like sexual stuff while I was like, you know, like on TV and stuff. People were like, ‘Aren’t you afraid? Aren’t you embarrassed?’ and I was like, ‘No, actually, I’m like, I love being my authentic self,” Varma said.
The Post absolutely excoriated Varma.
“That he will stay out of prison, where he belongs like all corrupt public servants, is obscene; that he will keep his medical license is an enormity,” the article from the New York Post’s editorial board read.
It continued: “But Dr. Varma has nonetheless done America a massive favor.
“He’s shown yet again that our progressive public health ‘experts’ are duplicitous narcissists who deserve eternal condemnation, not trust.”
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