Kyrie Irving’s antics have become memes and the butt of jokes for years. But in reality, they were part of a snowball effect that culminated in the events of Thursday evening.
That’s when the Brooklyn Nets finally said enough is enough and took action against the 7x All-Star guard.
Last week on Twitter, Kyrie posted a link to Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, a controversial, error-filled documentary containing various anti-Semitic themes.
Despite being given opportunities to apologize for posting the link, Kyrie said he “took responsibility” for the decision but refused to apologize.
After he and the Nets made matching $500,000 donations to support anti-hate initiatives with the Anti-Defamation League, Kyrie said he was “aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community” and “meant no harm.”
Yet he adamantly refused to apologize.
And that came after Nets owner Joseph Tsai voiced his displeasure with Kyrie and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver weighed in publically on the situation.
“Kyrie Irving made a reckless decision to post a link to a film containing deeply offensive antisemitic material,” said Silver in a statement. “While we appreciate the fact that he agreed to work with the Brooklyn Nets and the Anti-Defamation League to combat antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, I am disappointed that he has not offered an unqualified apology and more specifically denounced the vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize. I will be meeting with Kyrie in person in the next week to discuss this situation.”
On Thursday evening, the Nets taught Kyrie that arrogance and ignorance have repercussions.
After a week of drama, distraction, criticism and in-arena protests, the Nets suspended their star point guard “for at least five games without pay.”
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