The head of the NBA gave an interview to the New York Times where he notably addresses the case of the star of the Brooklyn Nets.
NBA chief Adam Silver told the New York Times that Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving, suspended for promoting an anti-Semitic movie, was not anti-Semitic himself.
“He is someone I have known for years and I have never heard him say anything anti-Semitic or make hateful comments towards any community.Silver said after meeting Irving. “We had a frank and sincere conversation“, he added, about this interview organized as part of the sanctions against Irving pronounced by the NBA and his Brooklyn Nets team which also includes meetings with representatives of the Jewish community.”Whether he is anti-Semitic or not has nothing to do with the harm he caused by posting this hateful content.“, however, noted the head of the NBA.
On October 27, Irving, already known for spreading conspiracy theories, had posted on his Instagram and Twitter accounts the poster of “Hebrews to Blacks: Awaken Black Americaand links to the Amazon site that allow you to rent or buy this movie that contains, among other things, a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler that denies the reality of the Holocaust. The former Cleveland player was fined by the Nets who suspended him for at least five games, without pay, and ended up apologizing. If you believe that the penalty imposed on Irving is “the right decision“, Adam Silver, criticized especially by former players for the slowness of his reaction, acknowledges that”we could have done it faster. I accept this criticism, but I felt it was important to understand the context of the publication of these remarks in order to know what penalty was appropriate.“, he explained to the New York Times.
For his part, NBA and Lakers star LeBron James felt on his social media that Irving, his former teammate in Cleveland, should “.be able to play again. Like I said before, we shouldn’t put out content that can hurt and I’ll keep saying that, but Kyrie has apologized and he needs to be able to play again (…) It’s as simple as that, you have to help to understandadded the Los Angeles player. “He is not the man we portrayadded the four-time NBA champion. Finally, gear maker Nike founder Phil Knight told CNBC that “I doubted it (Irving’s partnership with Nike suspended) summary“.
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