Brooklyn Nets suspend Kyrie Irving after he stops short of apologizing for tweeting out link to film containing antisemitic material
NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets have suspended star Kyrie Irving without pay after he refused to apologize for tweeting out a link to an antisemitic film during a press conference Thursday.
The suspension will last at least five games.
This comes after the Nets guard again stopped short of saying he was sorry for tweeting out a link to a film containing antisemitic material last week.
Irving said some things in "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America" were untrue, but he didn't say he shouldn't have posted a link to it.
"I'm not the one who made the documentary," Irving said after the Nets practiced Thursday.
READ MORE: Nets, NBA facing public relations problems on two fronts
Irving again said he meant no harm in posting the tweet -- which he has since deleted -- but didn't apologize for doing so and instead asked reporters why they weren't asking questions about the history of Blacks in America, saying 300 million of his ancestors are buried in the country.
"Where were you guys asking those same questions when I was a kid learning about the traumatic events of my familial history and what I'm proud to come from," Irving said, "and proud to stand here and why when I repeat myself that I'm not going to stand down, it has nothing to do with dismissing any other race or group people.
"I'm just proud of my heritage and what we've been through and the fact that this has pinned me against the Jewish community and I'm here answering questions of whether or not I'm sorry or not about something I didn't create and was something I shared, and I'm telling everybody I'm taking responsibility, than that's where I sit."
The team released the following statement Thursday evening:
"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 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."
On Wednesday, Irving and the Nets announced, in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, that each would be donating $500,000 to anti-hate causes.
Thursday evening, however, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that the organization "cannot in good conscience accept his donation."
Earlier Thursday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Irving "made a reckless decision" in the second statement the league office has issued on the latest Irving controversy, and the first in which Irving was referenced by name.
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"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," the commissioner said.
Silver added that he will be meeting with Irving in person within the next week. The league's first statement, clearly in reference to Irving's tweet, said "hate speech of any kind is unacceptable and runs counter to the NBA's values of equality, inclusion and respect."
The National Basketball Players Association also put out a statement this week echoing the NBA's original comments. The NBPA also did not mention Irving by name; Irving is a vice president of the union and a member of its executive committee.
Asked what in the film he disagreed with, Irving responded: "I think some of the criticism of the Jewish faith and the community for sure. Some points made in there that were unfortunate."
During his first comments since a combative press conference Saturday in which he defended his right to post, Irving was asked specifically about his beliefs regarding the Holocaust.
"Those falsehoods are unfortunate," Irving said, referring to content in the film. "And it's not that I don't believe in the Holocaust. I never said that. Never, ever have said it. It's not come out of my mouth. I never tweeted it. I never liked anything like it. So the Holocaust in itself is an event that means something to a large group of people that suffered something that could have been avoided."
He was finally asked if he had any antisemitic beliefs.
"I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from," Irving said.
Irving didn't say if he had taken part in the meetings between his representatives, the Nets and the ADL. He added that he isn't afraid to continue speaking about his beliefs.
"So I take my full responsibility again, I repeat it, for posting something on my Instagram or Twitter that may have had some unfortunate falsehoods in it," Irving said. "But I also am a human being that's 30 years old and I've been growing up in a country that's told me that I wasn't worth anything and I come from a slave class and I come from a people that are meant to be treated the way we've been treated every day.
"So I'm not here to compare anyone's atrocities or tragic events that their families have dealt with, generations of time. I'm just here to continue to expose things that our world continues to put in darkness. I'm a light, I'm a beacon of light. It's what I'm here to do."
The Associated Press' Brian Mahoney told CBS2 if he thinks this will be the end of Irving's career with the Nets.
"It's certainly possible this is Kyrie Irving's last game with the Brooklyn Nets. The thought coming into this year was he'd wanna have a great year on the court and off the court. Because he didn't get a contract extension last summer, he would try to do everything possible to earn that so he could stay in Brooklyn. At the same time, we saw last season, he's not really motivated by money. He doesn't want to be told what to do. He would not get vaccinated even though it meant he had to to play in the games in New York. So he may say if he's required to apologize, if he's required to say things he didn't say in this press conference, he may say 'I'm not doing that' and ultimately may not have another chance in Brooklyn," he said.
The team refused to give him a contract extension this summer after he was unavailable for so much of last season. Irving opted into the final season of his contract, making it possible he is in the final season with the team.
Late Thursday night, Irving posted on Instagram, saying in part, "To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize. I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary."
