Kyrie Irving is often in the news because of his outspoken opinions on a variety of issues. This time it was taken to a whole new level, and that’s probably why some fans are being critical. The Brooklyn Nets published a statement Friday night denouncing star point guard Kyrie Irving’s support of an antisemitic movie.
On Thursday, Irving shared a link titled “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” on Amazon Prime Video through a tweet. Throughout his Instagram Story, he also posted a screenshot of the film.
The movie appeared in 2018, and it was inspired by a novel published in 2015 with the same title. Both the film and the book are “stuffed with antisemitic tropes,” as Rolling Stone pointed out.
The team announced in a message to the press, “The Brooklyn Nets strongly condemn and have no tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech, “We believe that in these situations, our first action must be open, honest dialogue. We thank those, including the [Anti-Defamation League], who have been supportive during this time.”
Also on Friday, Joe Tsai, governor of the Nets, moved to Twitter to voice his displeasure with Irving’s backing of “a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation.”
This is bigger than basketball
— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) October 29, 2022
Tsai stated, “I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation, “I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion.” he continued saying “This is bigger than basketball”.
The tweet was still visible on Irving’s Twitter feed and the Instagram story just since Friday night.
Brooklyn, at 1-4 on the season, will play host to Indiana this Saturday and the next day. For the season thus far, Irving has averaged 29.6 points per game. In September, Irving shared a video of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ranting about the “New World Order” on his Instagram feed. Because he didn’t want to get the shots that New York City required, he couldn’t play at the Barclays Center for 53 games last season.
