Kyrie Irving defends Stephen Curry's moon landing comments

Irving found himself in a similar situation as Stephen Curry in February 2017 when he said he believed the Earth is flat.

Published : Dec 19, 2018 22:59 IST

Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving
Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving
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Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving

Celtics guard Kyrie Irving is coming to the defense of Stephen Curry after the Warriors star faced backlash from his moon landing comments earlier this month. 

When asked about Curry's remarks, Irving went on a rant about celebrity athlete conspiracy theories, social media and society in general. Curry's original remarks came when he said during an appearance on the "Winging It" podcast he didn’t necessarily believe astronauts had landed on the moon. Curry, however, told ESPN  he was not being serious when he made those comments.

“It’s society, though. It’s where we live in America where people say s— all the time about one another," Irving told reporters Tuesday. "And it’s mean, bad. Kids see it. Like, everyone gets a piece of it, and then it’s the next story. Next thing that’s coming out of someone’s mouth. There’s world hunger going on. Like political things going on. There’s so many higher things on the totem pole of society that matter to human beings.

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“But hey, Steph Curry says that he doesn’t believe in the moon [landing]. It’s the thing all over. It’s on CNN, and they say we’re just jocks, we’re just athletes. But it’s on your channel. So, you know what I mean? We’re that but you don’t want us to be that. So and whoever ‘you’ is then I don’t know what mold you want me to be.”

Irving found himself in a similar situation in February 2017 when he said he believed the Earth is flat and later apologized for his remarks. He went on to explain how he felt dehumanized and said it's not fair for athletes to receive this type of response.

"You end up getting caught because you’re on this false platform of a thing where you’re not even a human being anymore," Irving said. "You’re now extrapolated for all the information that you know and think. And now you have to fit a mold of something that you’re clearly not. You’re more than just a basketball player that puts it in the hoop, and they subject you to being just that. It’s a little unfair at times.

"It's just history repeating itself all over again. We've had people in history say some things that they believed and they stuck with their whole entire lives whether they be prominent individuals in society or not. So, I try to not pay attention to that mold at all. I try not to pay attention to whether it's insulting or not. I don't live my life based on biases or judgments."

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