Kyrie Irving, over the past 4 seasons, has been embroiled in one controversy after another. Ever since he left the Cleveland Cavaliers, he’s been the center of attention. Not in a good way, because he’s since lied about staying with the Celtics, refused his vaccination, and is now embroiled in an anti-Semitic controversy. Something seems off about his demeanor.
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Kyrie was never one to draw ire from the fans. He was one of the most likable players in the league, and then the switch happened. His latest controversy is well-known, and big names jumped on him very quickly.
As a recap, this is what happened. Out of the blue, Kyrie Irving tweets about “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” a film that has undertones of condescension and conspiracy theories. The Nets guard did not do anything but tweet the rental link to the movie; he attached no comment to it. But the message seemed abundantly clear.
Just tweeting it brought his stock down. Already in a battle with Nike about his contract extension, Kyrie was officially dropped by the sports manufacturer. He was also suspended by the Nets without pay until he fulfilled a six-step dossier that made him understand the issue at hand.
The media, including several big names, had their fair share of interpretations about the tweet. Charles Barkley went as far as calling him “an idiot” on air.
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Did Uncle Drew want to say that he doesn’t believe it’s right? We have no idea. Was it a tweet about him disagreeing with the ideology of the 2018 film? Again, no idea. He remained mum after posting the controversial tweet and it did his image no favors. Already on a downward spiral, it just pushed him further down the abyss.
Actor Michael Jai White, known for his roles in Never Back Down and as the first African-American superhero in Spawn, had his say.
Mr. White has steered clear of controversy throughout his career. When egged on by VladTV to get a biased response, his martial arts training came in handy.
MJW had only one thing to say: he refused to take sides without knowing the complete context. He reached out to many people, asking what exactly was offensive, for the Nets man had done nothing but share the link to the movie.
That is smart, considering VladTV wanted a controversial take. Jai also added that the comment from the NBA on TNT duo was unwarranted. They knew nothing about the movie nor the comment, yet they decided to call him an idiot.
Was the aftermath of the controversial tweet warranted?
Yes and no. With hate crimes on the rise and Kyrie known for his “unpopular” opinions, the benefit of the doubt can be given to both sides. But his actions towards the Jewish community paint a different picture. On his first game back, there was a row of people courtside wearing “Fight anti-Semitic crimes.”
Kyrie walked up to them, saying, “I like Jewish people.” Undoubtedly, this was an unnoticed interaction. He’s known to do charity work off the camera, and instances of him donating large sums of money have since come to light.
All of this could have been avoided had the man thought about the repercussions before hitting the blue button. All he had to do is add one line about what he felt—there would be more clarity. And as for the outrage caused by Shaq, sir, your theatre ran the movie when it came out.
Don’t call him out, when you did more than tweet about it.
