The Details on Kyrie Irving’s Suspension

Kyrie Irving has been suspended for at least 5 games by the Brooklyn Nets. He was suspended because of “failure to disavow anti-Semitism”, and he has issued an apology. The 5-game suspension is still in place since this is the minimum length that the Brooklyn Nets specified. The last game Irving has played in was against the Chicago Bulls on November 1, where he scored only 4 points, along 6 assists and 7 rebounds.

What he specifically did was promote an anti-Semitic documentary using Twitter. The documentary is called “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake up Black America”, and it was made in 2018 and is 3 hours and 28 minutes long. He promoted it on Twitter through an Amazon link. Kyrie defended himself saying that, “In terms of the backlash or what people call it – we’re in 2022. History is not supposed to be hidden from anybody. And I’m not a divisive person when it comes to religion. I embrace all walks of life; you see it on all my platforms.” (From Nets Wire). This is only a small quote from what he said in his press conference after the incident. Apparently, he also got into an exchange with a reporter that he said was “dehumanizing” him by saying that he “promoted” the documentary. Kyrie says that he was just on Amazon Prime trying to find a documentary that “elevates his consciousness”, says Nets Wire, then he searched up documentaries about Yahweh and that popped up. So, he watched it and shared it on his platform. 

Nike has written a statement about how they do not tolerate hate and that they will not be selling the Kyrie 8. They also said there will most likely be no more connections between them and Kyrie anymore, per CBS Sports. Kyrie Irving has apologized as well. NBC Sports says there may be some underlying things he has to do behind the scenes to return to the game, including possibly charity donations or anti-hate “training”. But nothing is decided yet, Kyrie may not return if he doesn’t acquiesce to the things that the Nets require of him.