Nets suspend Kyrie Irving for minimum of five games
The Brooklyn Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving, releasing the following statement:
“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. 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.
"We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media
session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no
antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in
the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity - but
failed - to clarify.
"Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear
opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of
our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team.
Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be
associated with the Brooklyn Nets. We have decided that Kyrie will
serve a suspension without pay until he satisfies a series of
objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his
conduct and the suspension period served is no less than five
games.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also released a statement, announcing that they won't accept Irving's recent donation:
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt says ADL is not accepting Kyrie Irving’s $500K donation: ‘We were optimistic but after watching the debacle of a press conference, it’s clear that Kyrie feels no accountability for his actions. @ADL cannot in good conscience accept (the donation).’ 1/2
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 4, 2022