Charles Barkley rips Kyrie Irving, says his return 'isn't fair' for the Nets

Kyrie Irving’s stance on the COVID-19 vaccine put the Brooklyn Nets in a bit of a predicament. They could either live with the fact that he wasn’t going to play in New York or send him away from the team, at least for this season.

The Nets chose to do the latter, claiming that they wanted players who were 100% committed to their cause and that allowing him to be a part-time player would only become a distraction for the team.

Fast-forward to today and Irving has officially made his return to the court, as a league-wide COVID-19 outbreak made Brooklyn change their minds on whether allow Kyrie to play this season or not.

Charles Barkley Says Kyrie Irving Being Back Is Unfair

That’s why Hall of Famer Charles Barkley recently called out the organization, stating that whether you agree with Kyrie’s opinion or not, bringing him back isn’t fair for the rest of the team:

“If you want to make a political point which is silly and stupid and not get vaccinated, that’s fine. But I don’t think it’s fair,” Barkley said on inside the NBA. “We’re on every night except Friday during the playoffs. If I said ‘you know what, I’m not gonna work on the weekend’ I don’t think that’s fair to you guys. So to me, I have an issue with the entire thing. Kyrie is a heck of a player but to only play in road games, I don’t think it’s fair to the game. More importantly, I don’t think it’s fair to the team.”

Shaquille O’Neal Feels The Same Way About Kyrie

Unsurprisingly, Shaquille O’Neal also had plenty to stay about the Nets’ decision to bring Kyrie back. Per the four-time NBA champion, they didn’t need to panic and allow him to play, as they were doing pretty well without him:

“I hate when people make a big stand about what they gonna do. ‘Oh Kyrie if you not all in don’t even come,” Shaq said on ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq.’ “The Brooklyn Nets organization, ‘oh if you won’t be all in, blah blah blah don’t even come around. Now, since the COVID come up and a couple of guys are out, oh, we’ll let you play Mr. Kyrie. You can do this Kyrie, you can do that Kyrie. I don’t respect that. They panicked for no reason. They sound like they are No. 7 in the league. You in first place, dummies. You don’t need him.”

At the end of the day, the game is always better when the best players are on the court, and we can’t judge Kyrie for his personal choices. But after such a long saga and all the back-and-forth, you can’t help to think the Nets mishandled the whole situation.