Getty Kyrie Irving (left), formerly of the Brooklyn Nets.
Yet another season for the star-studded Brooklyn Nets is off to a tumultuous start. After their loss to the Indiana Pacers at home on Saturday night, the Nets have lost four consecutive games and have a record of 1-5 in their first six games. Although the Nets losing habits are indeed concerning, it was not the most concerning issue on the night.
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Kyrie Irving Has Heated Exchange With Reporter
On October 27, Kyrie Irving posted the link to the 2018 film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which is filled with anti-Semitic tropes, according to an article by Rolling Stone. Irving’s tweet caused him to come under the scrutiny of many, including the NBA and Nets owner Joe Tsai who said he was ‘disappointed’ in the All-Star guard.
After the loss, Irving took questions from reporters about his tweet, which sparked several heated exchanges on the night. But the most notable one was his confrontation with ESPN Nets beat writer Nick Friedell, who also called out Irving for his recent post of a video that featured conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
“That was a few weeks ago, I do not stand with Alex Jones’s position, narrative, (the) court case that he had with Sandy Hook or any of the kids that felt like they had to relive trauma or parents that had to relive trauma or to be dismissive to all the lives that were lost during that tragic event. My post was a post from Alex Jones that he did in the early nineties or late nineties about secret societies in America of a cult. And it’s true. So I wasn’t identifying with anything being a campaignist [sic] for Alex Jones or anything. I was just there to post,” Irving said after the loss via NetsDaily.
“And it’s funny, and it’s actually hilarious because out of all the things I posted that day, that was the one post that everyone chose to see. It just goes back to the way our world is and works. I’m not here to complain about it, I just exist.”
Kyrie Irving going back and forth with @NickFriedell during the Nets postgame presser 😳
Kyrie Called Out by Richard Jefferson During Nets Broadcast
Kyrie also got called out by his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Richard Jefferson, whom he won the lone championship of his career with in 2016. Jefferson, who is now a color commentator for the Nets on YES Network, had a mouthful to say about his former teammate during the broadcast.
Not necessarily because of the tweet in question but because even in the wake of backlash he has received, he has chosen to not delete it.
“You know, it’s tough because it is disappointing. You know Kyrie says he’s not antisemitic. But the tweet is still up. the tweet is still up there,” Jefferson said on October 29.
“Let me say this. I was his teammate for two years and when Kyrie says, I’m not antisemitic, I believe Kyrie when he tells me this. but then why leave that content up there? Why do that? That’s the question that everyone is curious about. I just want to commend Joe Tsai and the NBA for reacting very quickly to this before this got out of hand.”
It will be interesting to see if the Nets take further action in the wake of the backlash their star point guard has come under.