Getty Kyrie Irving #11, Brooklyn Nets
Former Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving continues to get himself in hot water. Irving’s actions over the past couple of days – promoting an antisemitic movie on his Twitter page, then not clarifying if he’s antisemitic or not – have warranted a suspension by the Brooklyn Nets, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving.
Because Irving NBA Insider Chris Broussard believes that Irving’s actions could very well lead to his NBA career ending prematurely.
“His career, not this season, is in jeopardy going forward because if he doesn’t come off this stance, I think this could be his last season in the NBA.”
Irving is only 30 years old and is putting up 26.9 points, 5.1 assists, and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 28 percent from three eight games into the 2022-23 season.
Nets’ Statement on Irving’s Suspension
After announcing that they had suspended Irving, the Nets elaborated more on why they went the route that they did.
“Over the last several days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate. We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance.
“We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity – but failed – to clarify.
“Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets. We have decided that Kyrie will serve a suspension without pay until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct and the suspension period served is no less than five games.”
Nets statement
Kyrie’s Actions Behind the Scenes
Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN provided the details of what went on behind the scenes between when Irving first posted the link to his Twitter page and when the Nets suspended him.
According to them, Tsai tried to reach out to Irving multiple times after Irving promoted the antisemitic film on his Twitter page to try to work out the situation, but Irving did not communicate with him.
“As it turned out, the redemptive arc that Tsai had imagined for his star had devolved into what the owner felt was a repetitive exercise in Irving’s betrayal of good faith, sources said. For nearly a week, Tsai kept extending the clock to give Irving a chance to get this right for himself, the franchise, and the Jewish community — and Irving never returned a single of his text messages, sources said. Almost a week later, Irving had shown no inclination to deliver an apology, nor a disassociation of the movie’s contents, nor a willingness to answer “No” when asked if he held antisemitic beliefs.”
They later revealed what was the last straw for Tsai.
“Irving had walked over to an assembled group of media members and again refused to apologize or condemn the film. Asked if he held antisemitic beliefs, Irving responded, ‘I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from.’
“For Tsai, that was it. No more. Irving’s refusal to disavow antisemitism and Holocaust denial convinced him Irving had been insincere in his joint ADL statement hours earlier, sources said.”
Along with his five-game suspension, Irving has to complete a “series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct,” which include the following.
“The conditions needed for Irving’s reinstatement included a public statement recognizing the film is antisemitic, an apology for supporting the film and the falsehoods within it, and training sessions on the dangers of hate speech, sources said. There would also need to be meetings with Brooklyn Jewish leaders, Marks told reporters Friday morning.”