By Jim James
Before we start, let me just say that I got the idea to make this blog post last weekend, but with Halloween, Doctors Appointments, Champions Leagues, and Gerard Pique’s sudden retirement, I just haven’t had the time to make this. And while I was planning to make a post about something like load management, the news we got on Thursday night catapulted this to the top of the priority list. Now let’s get into the thick of things.
Kyrie Irving has said and done his fair share of idiotic moments in the league, on and off the court; insisting the earth was flat, calling himself an “entertainer”, and forcing himself out of Cleveland. However, these things alone wouldn’t make him stand out in the long line of spoiled NBA divas, even the vaccination saga. However, he has just made himself stand out from them, and in the worst way.
On the 27th of October, just less than 3 weeks after Kanye West’s antisemetic tweet that cost him hundreds of millions, Kyrie Irving reposted a link to an antisemetic book and film, the name of which I won’t say because I don’t want to further publicise it. Now, a common misconception of this saga is that the film was made by Kanye West, which doesn’t seem to be the case. It seemed like this film was reposted by Kyrie in “solidarity” with Kanye and his antisemetic views.
Now, at this point, the situation could have been salvaged, he could have bandaged up the wounds and continued like nothing happened. However, this is Kyrie Irving we’re talking about, and if you know anything about him, he doesn’t back down easily, even if he’s supporting the most ridiculous topic imaginable. So he didn’t delete the tweet for a whole day. He also didn’t even acknowledge that his actions were wrong in the next press conferences, even trying to flip the script and claiming to a journalist that he was being “dehumanized”.
As bad as this all was, we had been hearing radio silence from the league. That is, until Thursday, as I said, the day when this situation catapulted to the top of my priority list. That morning, when commissioner Adam Silver put out a statement denouncing Kyrie’s tweet and lack of apology, scheduling an in-person meeting with him next week.
Then, last night, the Brooklyn Nets finally took action, suspending Kyrie 5 games without pay in a Woj bomb. That is when the self proclaimed “entertainer” relented, and 4 hours after the statement was released, Kyrie released a statement saying that he apologised for his tweet and was sorry for any damage he may have caused, essentially your average apology on social media.
That brings us to right now, as I’m writing this sentence. Who knows what’s next. Will the Nets let him off after 5 games, will they accept the apology? Only time will tell. For now though, I’m Jim James, and until next time.