Kyrie Irving is in hot water as he continues to grind the axe in defense of his anti-Semitic remarks. It reached a boiling point when he squared off against journalist Nick Friedell.
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The back and forth was documented well and it exposed the failings of Kyrie Irving as a human. In our opinion, anti-semitic remarks have no place in this world, irrespective of your own personal views.
Here is the full clip of the exchange. And you can see how calmly Nick Friedell dismantles Irving.
Kyrie Irving going back and forth with @NickFriedell during the Nets postgame presser #NBATwitter #NetsWorld pic.twitter.com/Mn2dSsirSN
— ’ (@_Talkin_NBA) October 30, 2022
Kyrie posted a video from Alex Jones on his Instagram and it looked like a sort of follow-up to his Tweet about a movie that aims to dissect the Jewish and African-American communities.
— Hélà (@KyrieIrving) October 27, 2022
Kyrie Irving should change his stance
As the video started doing rounds on the internet, Kyrie Irving’s unwinding during the last few seconds of the clip was the focus. Media journalists lasered in on how Friedell kept his cool during the debacle and enforced his point.
This is embarrassing. Good on @NickFriedell for doing his job. https://t.co/zT7LrmsAHd
— Josh Schrock (@Schrock_And_Awe) October 30, 2022
Do you know how insanely easy it is to never tweet about Alex Jones or insane conspiracy theories? Like you wouldn’t believe how easy it is. https://t.co/sKPb9ijn0Z
— Jesse Pantuosco (@JessePantuosco) October 30, 2022
Tremendous by @NickFriedell. Didn’t budge one single inch. Kept his cool. Kept it specific. Kept it civil. Watch a pro work. https://t.co/CvK5jNyC2E
— Bill Oram (@billoram) October 30, 2022
As for Irving, it was apparent he couldn’t answer the question. And as many have pointed out, he could simply have chosen not to post instead of flailing in defense of his own action in the public.
We think Kyrie should change his stance before this blows up in his face. There are certain boundaries athletes shouldn’t cross, irrespective of their personal views.
Irving for one hasn’t been articulate about his support of anti-semitic remarks in his social media. Furthermore, any remote justification of his action would lead to more public outcry. An apology is appropriate in such an instance.
Also read: “Shoot it Ben”: Simmons Passes Up the Ball as Kyrie Irving Begs Him to Shoot
The Brooklyn Nets’ woes look to have increased with Irving’s off-court activity.
While the majority of media attention is faced towards Irving’s rather confusing and irrational behavior, his team has fallen to a 1-5 record. It looks as though Kyrie’s off-court drama has seeped into his on-court life.
The negative impact on his team is also quite apparent. Irrespective of what he says, what we see unfolding in front of us is closer to the truth than anything coming out of his mouth.
Questions to Irving were less about basketball but the pretext ensured that every journalist in the room would have their attention split between his social media outcry and the game. Irving himself did not want to back down.
By saying things that are out of place like, “Why are you dehumanizing me?”, Irving is victim-blaming. The lack of professionalism and the jump to defense are indicative of the wrong action.
We hope that Kyrie takes back his words and instead focuses on his true artistry. Because sometimes being wrong is okay.