As Nets suspend embattled Kyrie, Kerr calls for verbal vigilance

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Hate speech and condoning hateful conduct are frighteningly popular nowadays. Say something hateful and it will find a demographic. It will be embraced by millions who are quick to ridicule, or violently attack, those who condemn it.

This is the toxicity we get when character flaws of the celebrity class are overlooked, when vile language is cheered, when acts of cruelty are supported.

Which, unfortunately, makes Kyrie Irving a man of his time.

Kyrie’s decision to access Amazon – which should not escape this mess without blame – and use his global platform to amplify an anti-Jewish film that includes quotes from Adolf Hitler to justify the holocaust was wrong. Distastefully wrong. Indisputably wrong.

Also wrong: Irving’s apparent ignorance of the gravity of his viewpoint, or his understanding of recorded history, or his unwillingness to apologize to the group his actions disparaged.

This is why the Brooklyn Nets, after nearly a week of letting Kyrie be Kyrie, decided Thursday evening to suspend the seven-time NBA All-Star for at least five games. The embarrassing episode reached such an unbearable level that punitive inaction no longer was an option.

“We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film,” said part of the team’s official statement. “This was not the first time he had the opportunity – but failed – to clarify.

“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. Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets.”

Consequences, at last.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, usually willing to engage in sociopolitical discourse, initially sought to avoid The Kyrie Matter during his pregame press conference on Thursday in Orlando. Eventually, though, he waded in.

“We have to be more vigilant as a society,” Kerr told reporters before the tipoff of the Warriors-Magic game at Amway Center. “And we can't just be so accepting of comments that are so destructive and insulting to people. And it's crucial to everybody, whether you're a professional athlete or not, it's crucial that everybody think before they just throw things out there that can be so damaging.”

In an ideal world, yes, there would be thought and recognition and sensitivity and empathy and outright kindness.

In the world currently exists, Kyrie was being Kyrie. And even as he took criticism from nearly every side, he seemed determined to, for the most part, defend the indefensible.

Given an opportunity to apologize Thursday morning, Irving shifted the subject away from anti-Jewish conduct and toward America’s atrocious treatment of Black people.

“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,” he said. “But I also am a human being that’s 30 years old, and I’ve been growing up in a country that’s told me I wasn’t worth anything. That I come from a slave class and that I come from a people who are meant to be treated the way we are treated every day.

“I’m not here to compare anyone’s atrocities, or tragic events that their families have dealt with for generations of time. I’m just here to continue to expose things that our world continues to put in darkness. I’m a light. I’m a beacon of light. That’s what I’m here to do.”

The self-aggrandization is another symptom of the times. It’s another example of Kyrie being Kyrie, which is much like Kanye being Kanye, Trump being Trump or Elon being Elon. Ego and vanity, full speed ahead.

After declining to apologize earlier Thursday, Irving finally did so in an Instagram post shortly before 9 p.m. PT.

Though some consider these folks courageous for speaking their warped version of “truth,” our casual acceptance adds jet fuel to our societal differences. It’s why we see our racial, ethnic and gender biases, ablaze for centuries, now shooting flames from coast to coast.

Kerr said he had read a column written on Kyrie and the Nets by longtime journalist David Aldridge for The Athletic website and agreed with the sentiment.

“Words matter,” Kerr said. “Words really, really matter. And in modern society, with social media, the way things can sort of just fan across the globe exponentially, and get five million hits immediately, every comment matters, everything you say matters.”

RELATED: Takeaways from Warriors' loss to the Magic

In an ideal world, yes, words matter. Facts matter. Truth matters. Equality is everywhere. Hate speech and hateful behavior are forbidden.

In the world as it exists, Kyrie Irving fits right in.

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