NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving is under fire for supporting anti-Semitic views. So, why have his fellow NBA brethren gone radio silent?
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Kyrie Irving has been an absolute nuisance for years and particularly since joining forces with Kevin Durant while taking their talents to the Brooklyn Nets. In 2017, he was forced to apologize to science teachers everywhere after going public with his wacky theory that the earth is flat.
“To all the science teachers, everybody coming up to me like, `You know I’ve got to reteach my whole curriculum?’ I’m sorry,” Irving said after realizing that kids looked up to and listened to his opinions. “I apologize. I apologize.”
In 2021, he derailed the success of his team, was forced to sit out home games (as per the New York City vaccine mandate), and lost out on a 4-year $100 million-plus contract extension after refusing to get the COVID vaccine.
“Just had to sit in that hot seat for a little bit and deal with it. The life of a martyr, bro,” Irving said boastfully of his decision to forego the vaccine — even at the expense of his team and their championship ambitions.
Now, Kyrie Irving is (yet again) being blasted for his involvement in controversy. This time, it’s for posting a link to an anti-Semitic documentary film, doubling down by retweeting it, then refusing to back down or apologize for his actions.
Initially, the Brooklyn Nets oddly decided to do nothing and “give him time” to retract his tweets and apologize. However, once the NBA (led by commissioner Adam Silver, a Jewish man) and public perception began to relentlessly roast Kyrie and the Nets, the team suspended him without pay for 5 games.
On Friday, Nike handed down additional retribution by suspending their shoe deal with Kyrie Irving for his refusal to acknowledge the harm he’d done and his failure to apologize.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech, and we condemn any form of antisemitism,” the company said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
By Friday evening, Irving recognized he was hemorrhaging money and becoming “Kanye West Pt. 2.” So, he caved to pressure and ultimately offered up the apology he so stubbornly refused to deliver only hours before.
“To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize,” Irving posted on his Instagram page. “I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary.”
Kyrie’s eccentric behavior over the years, his enormous ego and belief that he’s smarter than everyone else, and, of course, his promotion of anti-Semitic rhetoric are certainly reprehensible. However, let’s take a hard look at what other NBA players had to say regarding Irving’s self-made drama:
*CRICKETS* *CRICKETS* *CRICKETS*
Yes, the men of the NBA made the deliberate decision to “hush” and say absolutely nothing — good or bad — about Kyrie and his bigoted and stubborn stance.
Among the lone 2 players to say anything at all was LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers — and he only opted to utter a syllable after the Nets, the NBA, and Nike each condemned Kyrie for his actions.
The only other player to say anything at all was Nets teammate, Kevin Durant, who merely responded just so he could scold the media for daring to cover the story and admonish everyone else to simply “move on.”
“I ain’t here to judge nobody or talk down on nobody for how they feel, their view or anything,” Durant said after the Friday shootaround with the Nets. “I just didn’t like anything that went on. I feel like it was all unnecessary. I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization. I just don’t like none of it.”
HUH???
Later, after Durant’s PR team likely ripped their hair out over his failure to at least say he doesn’t condone hate of any kind, Durant eventually took to Twitter with a “correction.”
Just wanna clarify the statements I made at shootaround, I see some people are confused..I don’t condone hate speech or anti-semetism, I’m about spreading love always. Our game Unites people and I wanna make sure that’s at the forefront
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) November 4, 2022
What Kyrie Irving did was sad. What Kevin Durant said was pathetic. What LeBron James said was too little too late. However, the silence from all the other active NBA players is unforgivable and a clear double standard.
If a current player had said and/or posted a remark that was racially or ethnically insensitive toward African-Americans, the entire league (which is made up of primarily Black players) would have immediately taken to marching in the streets. They would have demanded that the player be immediately punished by his team and publicly reprimanded by the NBA. They would have also led the court of public opinion in effectively reducing the player to rubbish.
So, where were the men of the NBA when the target of insensitivity was the Jewish community?
*CRICKETS* *CRICKETS* *CRICKETS*
OK WASSUP! covers Sports News:
Why were players silent on the Kyrie Irving drama?
New York Post: Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija is believed to be the NBA’s lone Jewish player and on Friday night he broke his silence on the Kyrie Irving saga. “[Irving] is a role model, he’s a great player. I think he [made] a mistake. But you need to understand that he gives [an] example to people. People look up to him,” he said, via the New York Post. “You can think whatever you want, you can do whatever you want. I don’t think it’s right to go out in public and publish it, and let little kids that follow you see it, and the generation to come after to think like that. Because it’s not true. And I don’t think it’s fair. Hopefully, he’s sorry for what he said. “I think there needs to be consequences for the actions that a player [does]. I don’t know the punishment that… Read more »