NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement on Thursday saying he plans to meet with Kyrie Irving âin the next weekâ to discuss the Brooklyn Nets guardâs recent social media post of a film containing antisemitic tropes.
âKyrie Irving made a reckless decision to post a link to a film containing deeply offensive antisemitic material. While we appreciate the fact that he agreed to work with the Brooklyn Nets and the Anti-Defamation League to combat antisemitisim and other forms of discrimination, I am disappointed that he has not offered an unqualified apology and more specifically denounced the vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize. I will be meeting with Kyrie in person in the next week to discuss this situation.â
Irving posted a link to âHebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black Americaâ on Twitter on Thursday and also shared a screenshot of the filmâs Amazon page to his Instagram. The 2018 movie is based on a 2015 book of the same title, both of which are âstuffed with antisemitic tropes,â as Rolling Stone detailed. The original post has been taken down.
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The Nets denounced Irvingâs post in a statement Friday night, saying the organization has âno tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech.â Like Silver, owner Joe Tsai shared his disappointment in Irving for the post.
Irving tweeted on Saturday that he âmeant no disrespect to anyone's religious beliefs,â but he never specifically addressed the film he posted to his social media.
Irving has played in all four Nets games since making his original post, and the controversy surrounding his post has followed him onto the court. A group of fans sat courtside at Barclays Center wearing âFight Antisemitismâ shirts at Mondayâs Nets home game against the Indiana Pacers.Â
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association, an organization where Irving is a vice president, both released statements since Irvingâs post denouncing antisemitism without calling him out by name. On Wednesday, Irving and the Nets announced in a statement that they would each be donating $500,000 to organizations that work to eradicate hate speech and work with the Anti-Defamation League. In that statement, Irving said he is âaware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community and I take responsibility.â
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On Thursday, Irving addressed the post with the media, saying âI didnât mean to cause any harm. Iâm not the one who made the documentary.â