NBA Slaps Kyrie Irving With Major Consequences Over His Controversial Post
The fallout from basketball star Kyrie Irving's extremely controversial social media post isn't over quite yet. The controversy started on October 27 when Irving took to Twitter to share a link to the antisemetic movie "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," which is based on the book of the same name, per Rolling Stone.
He deleted the aforementioned tweet, but not without a whole lot of backlash, which, according to BBC News, included some Jewish fans wearing "Fight antisemitism" t-shirts and Jewish caps during the Brooklyn Nets game on October 31. It was then announced on November 2 that Irving and the team would both be donating $500,000 to charities that help to fight division. In a statement regarding the issue, Irving said in part, per ESPN, "I oppose all forms of hatred and oppression and stand strong with communities that are marginalized and impacted every day." He then added, "So from my family and I, we meant no harm to any one group, race or religion of people, and wish to only be a beacon of truth and light."
But things have now taken another turn as the NBA has hit the basketballer with another serious consequence that could affect his career.
Kyrie Irving has been suspended for five Brooklyn Nets games
On November 3, the Brooklyn Nets confirmed Kyrie Irving would not be on the court as a member of the team for the foreseeable future, stating that he was being forced to sit out for at least five games. The team announced his departure in a statement, per NBC News, saying, "Over the last several days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate." They added, "We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance." However, the team shared they were left disappointed by how Irving had failed to vehemently say he doesn't have antisemitic views.
Irving had previously spoken about his controversial promotion of the movie in a follow-up tweet after deleting the initial post which linked to the movie. He wrote on October 29, "I am an OMNIST and I meant no disrespect to anyone's religious beliefs. The 'antisemitic' label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday. I embrace and want to learn from all walks of life and religions." He then added a crossed fingers emoji and an infinity symbol emoji.