This situation could get very ugly. Even though he and the Nets pledged a combined $1M to various Jewish-support groups, Kyrie Irving has doubled down on his comments and posts that has now forced Adam Silver to have an in-person hearing with him.
I’m not even exaggerating when I say that Kyrie Irving might get blackballed out of the NBA if he isn’t careful. It’s one thing to accidently say, post, endorse, advocate, etc. something that is wrong/offensive, but it is another thing entirely when one continues to double down and take zero responsibility for said endorsement/post.
Now, I’m obviously not much of a Kyrie Irving fan after how he treated the Boston Celtics (my favorite team), but that doesn’t mean I want to see a player with such talent get kicked out of the NBA over being stubborn and foolish.
It really baffles me as to why Kyrie Irving won’t just apologize for promoting that film on Amazon (which should be removed) and say he’s not antisemitic to the multitude of reporters that are all over him after every Nets practices and games. How hard is it really to say, “I’m sorry” and “I’m not antisemitic” if he really is as accepting of every faith and creed as he says he is? Just say sorry, Kyrie.
Personally, I (and I’m sure many others) don’t really care if Kyrie Irving believes the stuff about African Americans being descendants of the Ancient Hebrew people as it’s totally his right to do so. Maybe it’s true, and maybe it’s not. I have got no idea. Where I do have a problem with Kyrie Irving’s inherent stubbornness is the fact that he seems to be associating repentance with subservience.
No one is asking him to deny his beliefs and forsake his heritage (as he sees it), but rather that he apologizes for promoting a film that actively attacks and belittles the heritage of millions of people that have been routinely persecuted throughout history.
I mean, Kyrie can’t even say that the antisemitic opinions from that movie are bad or wrong, but rather they are ‘unfortunate’.
Moreover, when he was asked flat out is he was antisemitic, Kyrie continued his combative stance with the media by saying, “I can’t be antisemitic if I know where I come from.” Clearly, that’s a reference to that film’s message, which probably does show that Kyrie Irving really does believe most things that are said in it and is why he hasn’t shown remorse over his promotion of it.
If that’s true, that’s too bad as not only is it disappointing to see such a public figure spout nonsensical antisemitic rhetoric, but it is also unfortunate (as Kyrie would say) to see generational basketball talent wasted on such a moron.
Anyway, where Kyrie could become a problem for the Nets and the NBA is if the leagues advertisers start to pull out over these comments. We’ve already seen very similar situations of huge companies forgoing billions of dollars of revenue by disassociating themselves from very prominent and influential figures who hold remarkably similar beliefs to antisemitic ideas (hint: Kanye West and Adidas).
If huge NBA sponsors, like Verizon, Toyota, Googe, Caesars Sportsbook, and Pepsi, pull out of their deals over Irving and cost the NBA the approximately $1.6B of annual revenue they pour into the league for their sponsorship rights, then Kyrie Irving will get jettisoned out of the league so quick he won’t know what hit him.
And, like I said, that would be unfortunate to waste such talent on a guy like that.
Though, maybe Adam Silver will speak some sense to Kyrie and get him to finally apologize. We’ll have to wait and see.
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