The NBA should suspend Kyrie Irving immediately and the Brooklyn Nets should release him one second later.
Irving’s twisted views on race, dangerous conspiracy theories, and embracement of an antisemitic film have no place in sports at any level. It is especially true for the NBA, where 73% of its players are Black and many others are foreign born.
If a white NBA player posted on Instagram anything close to what Irving shared with the world last week, he would already be suspended and most likely looking for a new team.
Rolling Stone reported on Oct. 28, that Irving promoted a movie on Instagram called “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” that, “is stuffed with antisemitic tropes.”
The film attributes a quote to Adolph Hitler saying, “[Jews] will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they are.”
I thought Irving would apologize on Saturday after the Nets lost their fourth of five games played this season. Not only I was wrong, but Irving also doubled down on his lunacy.
“I’m not going to stand down on anything that I believe in,” he said. “I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.”
Whose army, Kyrie? Hitler’s?
This latest controversy comes less than a month after Irving re-posted some psychotic ramblings of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones contends that there are secret cults in America working in government “to enslave the human population by, among other methods, releasing viruses.”
 “And it’s true,” Irving said, again defending the indefensible.
“So, I wasn’t identifying with anything … for Alex Jones, it’s just there to post.”
Jones was recently ordered to pay $965 million in damages for his repeated claims that the 20 first graders and six educators murdered at Sandy Hook High School in 2012 were part of a “giant hoax” staged by actors with an anti-gun agenda.
This is who Irving identifies with. It should cost him his job. It would not be long before another team signed him, I’m not delusional.
As of Monday, this is all the NBA had to say about this disgusting matter:
“We believe we all have a role to play in ensuring such words or ideas, including antisemitic ones, are challenged and refuted and we will continue working with all members of the NBA community to ensure that everyone understands the impact of their words and actions,” the league said.
Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, is Jewish.
The Nets released a statement as a team, which was even less challenging than the NBA’s.
“The Brooklyn Nets strongly condemn and have no tolerance for the promotion of any form of hate speech. We believe that in these situations, our first action must be open, honest dialogue.”
Nets owner Joe Tsai said, “I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of antisemitic disinformation.”
“I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate base, on race, ethnicity or religion.”
Oh gosh, how frightening.
Again, if a white player saddled up to the dogma of a right-wing conspiracy theorist who spewed filth targeting Black people that player would not have a chance to clean out his locker before he was escorted from the facility.
The same should be true for Irving, a Black player.
The Reid Roundup
The Battlehawks will be back. The St. Louis XFL franchise will carry the same name and logo it did during the short-lived 2020 season. The new season begins in February 2023…Neither of the World Series participants, the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, have an American born Black player on respective rosters. This is the first time it has happened since 1950. Astros outfielder Michael Brantley, a Black player, would have been on his team’ roster but he suffered a season-ending injury in September…The NHL recently released its first diversity and inclusion report. Over 83% of league employees identify as white. Asian people represented 4.17%. Black and Hispanic people make up 3.74% and 3.71%, respectively. Indigenous persons account for 0.5% of the workforce. According to a study by analytic website FiveThirtyEight, about 90% of NHL players are white.Â
