After being suspended indefinitely for his social media posts pertaining to a book that contained antisemitic ideas and his perceived lack of action thereafter, some NBA GMs speculated that his career may be over. However, after serving an eight-game suspension and fulfilling six conditions set by the Brooklyn Nets organization, Kyrie Irving now returns to the team, helping the Nets secure a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies (127-115) on Sunday nights with 14 points and five rebounds in 26 minutes of play.
“I don’t stand for anything close to hate speec h or antisemitism or anything that is going against the human race,” said Irving earlier on Sunday. “I feel like we all should have an opportunity to speak for ourselves when things are assumed about us and I feel it was necessary for me to stand in this place and take accountability for my actions, because there was a way I should have handled all this and as I look back and reflect when I had the opportunity to offer my deep regrets to anyone that felt threatened or felt hurt by what I posted, that wasn’t my intent at all.”
Certain groups were spotted demonstrating outside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center before Sunday’s game, seen handing out flyers with “The Truth About Anti-Semitism” on the headlines. When asked about the incident, Irving answered that he was there to focus on the game.
“It felt good. I missed my teammates, missed the coaching staff,” said Irving after the game. “It felt good to get this game out of the way. Now we can move forward with the rest of the season.”
His teammates and coaches were happy to welcome him back with Kevin Durant saying: “We understand the circumstances around our game now. Our league is getting bigger, there’s so much attention on it, so every little thing might get blown up nowadays, so as much as we can just focus on playing ball and keep growing as a team, I think our fans can get behind that. I think you guys will get behind that as well. So we just want to keep stacking up good days, see what happens.”
“It’s Kyrie, he’s so talented,” Ben Simmons continues “Obviously, he’s working on the handle again, trying to get a feel for the ball, but he’s so talented it’s easy to play with him.”
A statement from the NBPA.
?: https://t.co/rAUP7jilM3 pic.twitter.com/mtSROtkBYi
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) November 20, 2022
“I don’t have hate in my heart for the Jewish people or anyone that identifies as a Jew. I’m not anti-Jewish or any of that… I am no one’s idol, but I am a human being that wants to make impact and change.”
Kyrie Irving issues an apologypic.twitter.com/ixuYmmtm2t
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 19, 2022
In other news, Haas F1 Team announces partnership with Palm Angels.
Tagged: Sports