LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers says former teammate Kyrie Irving “caused some harm to a lot of people.”
Irving was suspended for the first of several Brooklyn Nets games on Friday after commenting on an anti-Semitic documentary on Twitter.
In a post-game news conference following the Lakers’ loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday, James told reporters, “I believe what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people. He has since, over the last – today, or was it yesterday – he apologized. But he caused some harm.
“It doesn’t matter what color your skin is, how tall you are, what position you’re in – if you are promoting or soliciting, or saying harmful things to any community that harm people, then I don’t respect it. I don’t condone it.”
Irving was suspended by the Nets on Thursday after double down on his choice to disseminate the information on his Twitter account. The star point guard apologized hours later on his verified Instagram account, saying he accepted full responsibility for his actions.
“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,” 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 that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary.
“I had no intentions to disrespect any Jewish cultural history regarding the Holocaust or perpetuate any hate. I am learning from this unfortunate event and hope we can find understanding between us all,” Irving continued.
Nike suspended its association with Irving on Friday, as criticism of the NBA star grew.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism,” Nike said in a statement to CNN. “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. We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
The action comes after Irving defended his choice last week to publish a link to the 2018 video “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” Civil rights organizations have slammed the film, which is based on Ronald Dalton’s book of the same name, for its antisemitism.
Reporters had questioned Irving earlier Thursday, before he tweeted his apology, if he has antisemitic sentiments and if he was sorry. He responded at the time that he respected “people from all walks of life” and that he didn’t mean any harm.
During a media conference, the player “refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film,” during a media session.
“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,” the Nets said in their statement before Irving apologized.
The team also stated that they attempted several times to assist Irving in “seeing the harm and risk of his words and actions.”
Irving did not participate in Friday’s game against the Washington Wizards due to his unpaid suspension. The ban will extend at least four more games, and Irving must also comply with “a number of objective remedial actions that address the detrimental impact of his conduct,” according to the Nets.
When asked if the Nets were considering releasing Irving, general manager Sean Marks responded, “No. Not at this particular time.”
“There is going to be some remedial steps and measures that have been put in place for him to obviously seek some counseling … from dealing with some anti-hate and some Jewish leaders within our community,” Marks said while speaking to reporters before the Nets-Wizards game.
“He’s going to have to sit down with them, he’s going to have to sit down with the organization after this, and we’ll evaluate and see if this is the right opportunity to bring him back,” Marks added.
Kevin Durant, Irving’s Nets teammate, called this week’s events “unnecessary” and said the club could have “kept quiet” about Irving’s remarks.
“I ain’t here to judge nobody or talk down on nobody … I just didn’t like anything that went on. I feel like it was all unnecessary,” Durant said about Irving’s team-issued suspension during the Nets’ pre-game availability on Friday. “I feel like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization. I just don’t like none of it.”
When asked if he believed the ban was fair, Durant responded, “I believe and trust in the organization to do what’s right.”
Durant tweeted shortly after his media availability, “Just want to explain the words I made at shootaround, I notice some folks are confused..”
I don’t condone hate speech or anti-semitism, I’m about spreading love always.”
“Our game Unites people and I wanna make sure that’s at the forefront,” he added.
Irving’s comments during a press conference on Thursday heightened the dispute.
When asked if he was apologizing, he said, “I didn’t mean to cause any harm. I’m not the one that made the documentary.”
Asked if he was surprised by the reaction, Irving said, “I take my full responsibility, again I’ll repeat it, for posting something on my Instagram or Twitter that may have had some unfortunate falsehoods in it,” Irving replied.
Asked if he had any antisemitic beliefs, Irving responded: “I respect all walks of life. I embrace all walks of life. That’s where I sit.”
When pressed further on whether Irving had antisemitic sentiments, he responded, “I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from.”
When the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, discovered how the NBA star answered that question, he said Irving has “a lot of work to do.”
“The response to the inquiry, ‘Do you have any antisemitic beliefs?’ is always, unequivocally, ‘NO.’ “We took @KyrieIrving at his word when he stated he took responsibility, but today he failed to deliver,” Greenblatt tweeted.
Following Irving’s suspension on Thursday, the ADL refused to accept a $500,000 payment already announced by Irving and the Nets. The ADL declined the contribution before Irving apologized late Thursday.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was similarly critical of Irving’s comments, calling him “disappointed.”
“Kyrie Irving made a reckless decision to post a link to a film containing deeply offensive antisemitic material,” Silver said in a statement before Irving apologized.
The debate comes at a time when antisemitism has been on the increase in the United States. According to the ADL, at least 2,717 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the United States in 2021, up from 942 in 2015.