Kyrie Irving is eccentric and strange. I don't think he hates Jews just because he posted that link. I also don't think he literally believes the Earth is flat.
Irving actually took more responsibility for his earth is flat rhetoric than he did in this instance. Kyrie is a dumbass. https://www.nba.com/news/kyrie-irving-regrets-flat-earth-comments Kyrie Irving offered a simple message to science teachers Monday. “I’m sorry,” the Boston Celtics star said. And with that, Irving made clear that he regrets publicly saying that the Earth is flat. Speaking Monday at the Forbes Under 30 summit in Boston, the flat-Earth topic that Irving inserted himself into last year was discussed — and the All-Star guard said he didn’t realize the effect that his claim would have once it went public. “To all the science teachers, everybody coming up to me like, `You know I’ve got to reteach my whole curriculum?’ I’m sorry,” Irving said, as the room attending his session laughed. “I apologize. I apologize.” Irving said he’s since learned certain thoughts are best kept in “intimate conversations.”
He also said "I'm sorry" to people he hurt with tweeting a link to that documentary. Being regretful for causing pain to others is not enough, though. Our censorious culture requires that he publicly flagellate himself for his great sin.
He is also an attention seeker which goes hand in hand with being an NBA star. Just complicated, conflicted person.
I haven't seen it but this is what the ADL has to say about it: The 2018 film Hebrews to Negroes, based on director Ronald Dalton Jr.’s book series of the same name, is a three-plus-hour effort to “prove” the Black Hebrew Israelite (BHI) belief that certain people of color, including Black Americans, are the true descendants of the biblical Israelites. The film promotes beliefs commonly found among antisemitic and extremist factions of the BHI movement, including claims that modern Jews are imposters who stole the religious heritage of Black people and have engaged in a “cover-up” to prevent Black people from knowing their “true” identity. While much of the film deals with historical and genetic arguments about various racial and ethnic groups, it also includes extensive antisemitism, including claims of a global Jewish conspiracy to oppress and defraud Black people, allegations that Jews are in part responsible for the transatlantic slave trade and the claim that Jews falsified the history of the Holocaust in order to “conceal their nature and protect their status and power.” The film also amplifies longstanding antisemitic tropes about Jewish power, control and greed, including false claims that Jews control the media, and disputes the identity of modern Jews, claiming they are “religious converts” who descended from the Khazars and have no historical connection to the land of Israel. To support its claims, the film cites statements from prominent antisemites and notorious antisemitic texts as supposed evidence of the “true” nature and identity of Jewish people. For example, the film includes passages from Henry Ford’s “The International Jew” and two purported (though seemingly fabricated) quotations from Adolf Hitler. The film also advertises the book on which it is based, which features even more explicit antisemitism, including quotes from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a longer passage of Holocaust denial, attacks on Zionism, conspiratorial claims about the Rothschilds and more. In October 2022, professional basketball player Kyrie Irving, a repeat NBA All-Star and member of the Brooklyn Nets, shared a link to the film with his 4.6 million Twitter followers. Irving eventually deleted the tweet three days later, after initially telling reporters that he was “not going to stand down.” Irving has since issued a public apology and statement addressing the problematic nature of the film and his role in promoting it. Among the film’s claims: “Black people are now finding out they are the real lost children of Israel. In turn, they are realizing that the Sephardic, Ashkenazi, and Mizrahi Jews in Israel are just religious converts with no biblical blood connection to the ancient Twelve Tribes of Israel.” “If the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews falsely claim they are from the Tribe of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, why did they decide to steal the identity of the real Black Israelites that they sold into slavery?” “The children of Israel got their brown skin complexion, something we don’t see with the people who came to Israel in 1948 and call themselves Jews.” “The seed of Edom, the seed of Cain, the Synagogue of Satan, and Lucifer himself are the major confederate that has been against us for a very long time.” “In school we are never taught about…the Jewish slave ships that brought our West African negro Bantus ancestors to slave ports owned by the Jewish Newport world center of slave commerce off the east coast of North America.” “The Jews have established five major falsehoods which work to conceal their nature and protect their status and power, to wit: 1) The Jews are ‘Israelites’, and thus God’s Chosen People; 2) Jesus Christ was a Jew; 3) That 6 million Jews were killed in a holocaust during WWII; 4) That all races are equal, or that all are brothers; and, 5) That Jews are just another religious group.” [Quotation from a 1978 antisemitic text published by Walter White Jr. titled “The Hidden Tyranny”] “[The Americans] plan on moving these false white Jews into a state of Israel. Because the white Jews know that the Negroes are the real children of Israel and to keep America’s secret, the Jews will blackmail America. They will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they are.” [Fabricated “quotation” falsely attributed to Adolf Hitler]
So he's already off the suspension list and may be returning asap. It is best for the NBA that this happens. Kyrie got them clowns shook. They made this way bigger than it should have been and now they are backtracking. I think he should make them apologize.
It makes you wonder if he hasn’t said things in the past like the earth is flat and that Jews were massacred by the millions and are still disparaged across different places to this day. If Kanye had not just said he was going defcom on them recently if the clowns would not have come down so hard. I’m guessing not.
This is just one of those things where you either see something or you don't. If you could read that list of demands and not see a problem with it, not be instinctively repulsed by it, then you won't understand where I'm coming from. This is why I really liked Shannon Sharpe's analogizing the situation a woman could put you in after upsetting her and that the NBA is putting Kyrie in after upsetting people. You could apologize, but that isn't enough, you have to do this, this, and this, and that. If you've ever been put in that position and said okay, I'll do that instead of saying bye, don't let the door hit you on the way out, then you won't ever see a problem with what is happening with Kyrie.
I did not even watch it that long and its worse than I thought did he actually use the term buck broken or use slavery in any way shape or form concerning Kyrie? The same Kyrie who took several vacations the last 2 years while being paid millions of dollars? Wow, J Will talk about a bad look. I can understand thinking this is to harsh a punishment even though I don't agree, but slavery got **** all to do with this, shame on you J Will.
A ton of NBA stake holders responded to the issue outside of Nets. Nike cut a shoe deal - literally took a shoe that was coming to stores out of pipeline. Commissioner stepped in. All type of national media gave NBA negative PR. All because Kyrie couldn't say quickly enough (he was given like a week to do so) that "I don't hold antisemitic views and I apologize for unintentionally promoting them via my tweet and hurting people by it" to put the brewing storm to rest. It's not that much to ask from a person who professes to love all people and to want to educate them. The only reason this is still an issue is because a pampered multi millionaire star is not willing to admit a mistake and show through his actions the sincerity of something that due to time elapsed can no longer be proven with words alone. Being asked to meet a few people to resolve the issue he created is too much? Or being suspended is too much? He might be able to recoup the money lost by litigation, but it doesn't look like it's only the money that he is concerned with. He wants to do the covid fight all over again, but this time his next contract is on the line. The next contract will be the true litmus test if this was blown out of proportion. PS. As far as Holocaust goes, Kyrie waded into a sensitive topic of race relations and so he took it upon himself to remain sensitive to all sides of that conversation. And he is just not capable of it. He is playing a role of a lightning rod - most likely, unwittingly so.
