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Protesters rallying against COVID-19 vaccination mandates and in support of basketball player Kyrie Irving gather in the street outside the Barclays Center before an NBA basketball game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Charlotte Hornets, Sunday, Oct.24, 2021, in New York.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo) STEPHEN A.SMITH ONLY SPEAKS UP ABOUT IMPORTANT SOCIETAL ISSUES ONLY WHEN IT'S POLITICALLY ACCEPTABLEFILE - Feb.
21, 2021, file photo Serbia's Novak Djokovic holds the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after defeating Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia.(AP Photo/Hamish Blair, File) ((AP Photo/Hamish Blair, File))No athlete became more synonymous with the vaccine debate than the greatest tennis player of all-time, Novak Djokovic.
(I like to refer to him as Novax when discussing this insane era of sports history).Although Djokovic repeatedly rejected the label of being "anti-vaccine," he consistently maintained that medical decisions should remain a matter of personal choice.He consistently preached a message of bodily autonomy in regards to COVID-19.In 2020, he stated, "I am opposed to vaccination if someone is forcing me to take a vaccine in order to travel." Two years later, following his deportation from Melbourne, Australia, home of the Australian Open, he reiterated, "I was never against vaccination, but I've always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body."Despite those statements, much of the media portrayed Djokovic primarily through the lens of vaccine opposition and as Djokovic said to "60 Minutes," "I was basically declared as a villain of the world.""Time" magazine published articles including "Why Australians Are Furious About Anti-Vaxxer Novak Djokovic" and even wrote in an article, "The entire saga could easily have been avoided if Djokovic had been fully vaccinated." "Vanity Fair" ran "The Right Wing Is Rallying Around Novak Djokovic Over Vaccine Stance," whil...