NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated at a press conference on Thursday how he has “no doubt” suspended Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving is indeed not antisemitic, whereas LeBron James went on Twitter to shield his former teammate, whose stadnding with the Nets is unknown so Silver believes Kyrie Irving.
These developments come just after Nike co-founder Phil Knight told CNBC in a previous Thursday interview that the footwear company’s partnership with Irving is almost certainly over.
Silver spoke with Irving fairly early this week, and he informed people in attendance at the Sports Business Journal Dealmakers Conference in Washington that the circumstance is “extremely unfortunate.”
“I individually do no doubt that he’s not anti-Semitic premised on what he said straightforwardly to me,” Silver said. “However, I believe he will now have to go through a process.”
Such a process, in addition to when the Nets lift his suspension, is contingent on Irving meeting a multitude of team-imposed return-to-play requirements, one of which he accomplished when he happened to meet with Silver earlier this week. There are numerous others, as well as the mandates have alarmed both the National Basketball Players Association, on which Irving serves as an executive board member, and James, among many others.
“I stated to you that I do not really think in sharing hurtful details,” James said on Twitter, echoing remarks he made after a game against the Los Angeles Lakers last week. “And I will remain that way, but Kyrie apologized and ought to be able to play.” That’s what I believe. It’s as simple as that. But he ought to be playing, not learning. I believe what he’s been asked to do to get back onto the floor is excessive (in my opinion). He is not the person who is being depicted.”
Irving will be suspended for at least five games with the Nets. He’s by now missed four games, but he could play against the Lakers on Sunday. It is unknown when he will be reinstated by the Nets.
“Once we do talk, if there is an update to share, I will definitely share it,” Marks said.
On Thursday, Silver stated to The New York Times that he has never heard Irving use anti jewish or hate speech, but did add, “Whether or not he is antisemitic is irrelevant to the harm caused by the posting of hateful information.”
Irving posted a since-deleted tweet last month containing a link to a documentary titled “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which contains Holocaust denial as well as conspiracy theories about Jews. Irving upheld his right to post whatever he wants in a controversial postgame interview session a few days later.
The blowback was enormous: Irving was chastised by Silver and several anti-hate organizations, along with the Anti-Defamation League, the Nets inevitably suspended Irving, and Nike declared last Friday that it had “suspended” its partnership with Irving and would not be releasing his next shoe line.
“I second guess we go back,” said co-founder Phil Knight in a CNBC interview that was broadcast Thursday. “However, I’m not certain.”
Irving signed with Nike in 2011 and has had a signature shoe line since 2014, with his yearly endorsement contract worth at least $11 million.
“Kyrie crossed the line,” Knight stated “. “It’s really that simple. We ended our relationship because he made some remarks we couldn’t live with. And that was okay with me.”
The Nets told reporters they suspended Irving because he “refused to definitively state that he has no antisemitic beliefs.” Nike clearly tried to get Irving to explain or offer an apology as well.
“It’s the same scenario. “He was entrenched,” Knight said.
After the Nets revealed their suspension of Irving, he wrote on Instagram, “To All Jewish Families and Communities that are Hurt and Affected by My Post, I am truly sorry to have caused you hurt, and I apologize.”
Irving has also recently obtained some backing. Well before team’s game against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, a small group of demonstrators gathered outside Barclays Center, claiming Irving has been unfairly treated by the team and others expressing his opinions.
Throughout his career, Irving has voiced a variety of divisive viewpoints. He repeatedly questioned the Earth’s roundness before apologizing to science teachers. He encouraged players not to participate in the season resumption inside a bubble at Walt Disney World in Florida after the virus outbreak struck in 2020. Last year, his unwillingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine resulted in him being barred from playing in the majority of the Nets’ home games.
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