Kyrie Irving has been suspended from the NBA for a week now and he’s finally met with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Silver, who is of Jewish heritage, denounced the Nets guard’s actions when he refused to acknowledge that he had indeed caused harm amongst the Jewish community and also failed to publicly apologize.
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Despite Irving finally apologizing on Instagram, it was far too late as he was given a suspension of minimum 5 games by the Brooklyn Nets. Him sharing a screenshot of a film that contained a bevy of antisemitic tropes has since led to supporters of ‘Kyrie’s cause’ handing out flyers in Brooklyn to further another hateful agenda.
Though, a silver lining here is that Silver has since stated that he doesn’t believe the former All-Star guard is antisemitic. However, he wants him to continue to understand that what he did was harmful to quite a lot of people.
Adam Silver refuses to comment on LeBron James’ tweets about Kyrie Irving
LeBron James recently came out in support of Kyrie Irving, calling for his reinstatement into the NBA. He would acknowledge that Irving was wrong in his actions but like Silver, stated he knew that his former Cavaliers teammate was not antisemitic.
Adam Silver was asked about if he had any reaction to James’s tweets and in response, he simply replied with, “No.”
Silver did stick up for Kyrie, saying in the decade that he’s known him, he has never heard him utter a single word or phrase that could be considered antisemitic. However, he doesn’t care about him being antisemitic, rather, he cares about making him understand that his words and actions have caused harm amongst the Jewish community.
LeBron James, as of yet, has had no response to Adam Silver’s refusal to comment on his take on Kyrie.
LeBron James was once under fire for using antisemitic lyrics
In December of 2018, LeBron James posted a video of himself lip-syncing from his car, as usual, to 21 Savage’s ‘ASMR’. One of the lyrics he sang along to read, ‘We be getting that Jewish money, everything Kosher.’
James found himself heavily scrutinized for this as the lyrics spread Semitic tropes that were harmful to the community due to their stereotypical nature. He would come out and apologize, claiming he actually thought the lyrics were a compliment to the community, not an insult.
