Kyrie Irving apologizes to Jewish community following 5-game suspension
NEW YORK -- Following a suspension from the Brooklyn Nets, star player Kyrie Irving finally apologized for his social media posts about an antisemitic movie.
CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis went to the Barclays Center for fan reaction.
Jewish families and communities woke up Friday to a long awaited apology from Irving, who posted to Instagram overnight "I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain and I apologize."
This comes a week after the Nets player posted a link to an antisemitic film on social media which earlier Thursday he refused to apologize for.
"You said 'I didn't mean to cause any harm.' Are you apologizing?" a reporter asked.
READ MORE: Fans wearing "Fight Antisemitism" shirts sit courtside after Nets star Kyrie Irving tweet
"I didn't mean to cause any harm. I'm not the one who made the documentary," Irving said.
In a Tweet, the Anti-Defamation League CEO called that news conference a debacle.
Jonathan Greenblatt also wrote the ADL could not "in good conscience" accept a donation Irving pledged to the nonprofit Wednesday.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who is Jewish, condemned Irving's post, calling it a "reckless decision."
Prior to Irving's apology, the Nets announced he would be suspended for at least five games without pay. That's until he "satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct."
Watch Jenna DeAngelis' report
"I'm Jewish, so I take big offense to his posting," said Park Slope resident Rick Eisman.
Eisman wants to see action from Irving.
"Words are one thing. Coming together with the Jewish community is another," Eisman said.
He's among the mixed reaction outside the Barclays Center Friday morning.
"They bullied him into apologizing," one person said.
"Anybody would be apologetic if they're being suspended from their career, their love, their passion. And of course if it affects people, people are hurt by it. I don't think that was his intention," said Aku Kalu of Washington, D.C.
Fellow Nets star Kevin Durant, meanwhile, drew some criticism for saying he wanted the team to move past the incident.
During a shootaround Friday morning, Durant said he "felt like it was all unnecessary," adding that they "could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization."
Durant later took to Twitter to clarify his comments, saying in part, "I don't condone hate speech or anti-semetism [sic], I'm about spreading love always. Our game Unites people and I wanna make sure that's at the forefront."
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, meanwhile, said he doesn't respect the hurt his former teammate caused.
"You know, there's no place in this world for it and nobody can benefit from that, and I believe, you know, what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people," James said.
In his latest post, Irving wrote "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."
He went on to add he is "learning from this unfortunate event."
Silver said the ADL is "open to direct dialogue to repair the harm that [Irving] has caused and to engage in a process of healing and learning in a sincere manner, [the ADL] is open to engaging with him. Time and action will tell."
Friday night, Nike announced it will halt its relationship with Irving.
"At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism," the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said. "To that end, we've made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8."
That shoe was to be released later this month. Irving has had a signature line with Nike since 2014.
"We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone," Nike said.
Meanwhile, the ADL along with the Nets and the NBA have reportedly sent a request to Amazon to remove the antisemitic film Irving linked to or add a disclaimer. Amazon has so far remained silent in their role of providing a platform for the antisemitic film. Now, it appears the ADL and the Nets are compelling Amazon to pick a side.
