Brooklyn Nets’ star, Kyrie Irving shared a link to an anti-Semitic film last week, and the NBA suspended him for five games without pay after he refused to apologize for it.
Kyrie Irving didn’t apologize for his anti-Semitic posts at the scheduled press conference. The NBA star shared a link to a controversial three-hour movie “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” and basically shocked his fans and followers with his outburst of anti-Semitism. The movie, as its name suggests, is completely filled with anti-Semitic claims and scenes. As a result, The Brooklyn Nets team decided to act fast on it and isolate themselves from Kyrie Irving’s actions and beliefs.
Brooklyn Nets Suspend Kyrie Irving After Failing To Apologize For Anti-Semitic Post
A press conference was arranged in order for Kyrie Irving to apologize for his anti-semitic posts. People thought that this will be the end of it, as he would apologize and get over it. However, little did we know that he has another plan.
Irving took part in the rough press conference and successfully managed to talk ‘around the subject’ and not apologize. He referred to the metaphors appearing in the movie as ‘unfortunate’ and he claimed that he doesn’t have anything to do about it, as he didn’t make the documentary.
“The movie contained some false anti-Semitic statements, narratives, and language that were untrue and offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion. I didn’t mean to cause any harm. I am not the one who made the documentary.” – Irving simply said, purposely avoiding to use words as ‘apologize’ and ‘sorry’.
Quite contrary to what people expected from him, Kyrie Irving started ranting about his ancestors and the suppression of black people in the States. He purposely didn’t say that he doesn’t have any anti-Semitic beliefs.
“I think I can ask a better question which is, where were you when I was a kid figuring out that 300 million of my ancestors are buried in America?” – Kyrie Irving replied to the question with another question. “Where were you guys asking those same questions when I was a kid learning about the traumatic events of my familial history and what I’m proud to come from? And why I’m proud to stand here?”
When asked to reply with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ he did the same thing again. Failed to respect the guidelines and avoided answering. “I cannot be anti-Semitic if I know where I come from.” – Kyrie Irving said.
Brooklyn Nets feel regret that their star didn’t do what they expected him to do. However, in order to distance themselves from the controversy, they did what they could. And that is suspending him for five games.
“Over the last several days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving. We are trying to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions.” – The Nets’ official statement reads. “This 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. We thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance. Given an opportunity in a media session, Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no anti-Semitic beliefs. He failed to acknowledge specific hateful material in the film. This is not the first time he has the opportunity – but fails to clarify.”
The Nets referred to his decision to not apologize for the post as ‘disturbing’ and ‘against the values of their organization’. In order to make up his mind, they will suspend the star.
“We have decided that Kyrie will serve a suspension without pay until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures. This addresses the harmful impact of his conduct. The suspension period served is no less than five games.” – The Nets’ spokesperson said.
Kyrie Irving is a person that is prone to believing conspiracy theories. This showed with time. He took part in the Covid 19 vaccine controversy as well. Refusing to vaccinate, he was not allowed to attend training, or play with the Nets for a brief period.
Some people claim that Kyrie Irving is also one of the ‘flat earth’ believers. In addition, he didn’t hesitate to promote a video by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from 2002. Kyrie Irving shared the video on his Instagram story claiming that Alex Jones warned us about the coronavirus. The video spoke about ‘New World Order’ and about the release of ‘fabricated plagues’ upon the people.
Seems like the Brooklyn Nets are the ones apologizing and taking action for Kyrie Irving’s wrongs. They released another statement, ensuring the public that they don’t tolerate any kind of hate speech. Their statement reads that they have values of ‘equality, inclusion, and respect’.
“We believe we all have a role to play in ensuring such words or ideas. Including anti-Semitic ones. We face challenges and we will continue working with all members of the NBA community. As a team, we will ensure that everyone understands the impact of their words and actions.” – the statement reads.
It is not the first time that NBA has fined and suspended players for something they said or did. Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves player received a $40 000 fine for using homophobic language. Miami Heat’s Meyers Leonard as well. The NBA fined him $50 000. Furthermore, they gave him 1 week’s suspension from playing and training due to using anti-Semitic slurs.
Kyrie Irving didn’t apologize for the posts. However, he attempts to get himself out of further scrutiny. He promised he and his teammates would each donate $500,000 to organizations fighting against hate and hate speech.
