NBA legend Charles Barkley believes the league ‘dropped the ball’ on Kyrie Irving when it failed to suspend the Brooklyn Nets star for posting a link to an 'anti-semitic' film.
Last week, the seven-time NBA All-Star took to social media to tweet out an Amazon link to a three hour movie titled ‘Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America’. Rolling Stone reported the 2018 film is littered with ‘anti-semitic tropes’, which led Brooklyn management to act fast and distance themselves from his actions.
Nets owner Joe Tsai released a statement condemning Irving’s actions, but Barkley believes the NBA should have intervened and disciplined the seven-time All-Star themselves. The 59-year-old called out the league for continuing to pay Irving’s full salary.
“I think [Irving] should have been suspended,” Barkley said on TNT Tuesday ahead of the Nets’ game against the Chicago Bulls. “I think Adam [Silver, the NBA commissioner] should have suspended him.
“First of all, Adam is Jewish. You can’t take my $40 million [Irving’s reported salary] and insult my religion.
“You’re going to insult me, you have the right, but I have the right to say no. You’re not going to take my $40 million and insult my religion. I think the NBA, they have made a mistake.”
Mirror Sport has reached out to the NBA for comment.
Irving has courted controversy in the past, notably with his stance over the Covid vaccine, which led to long stretches of ineligibility to play or even practice with the Nets due to the New York City Covid vaccine mandate. The former Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers star was also reportedly an advocate of flat earth theory, although he later apologised.
Even just last month, Irving shared a video by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from 2002 to his Instagram story. The video - titled ‘Never Forget - Alex Jones Tried To Warn Us’ - refers to a 'New World Order' that would 'release plagues'.
Following the controversial post, the Nets insisted they did not advocate or tolerate the promotion of 'any form of hate speech', while the NBA released a statement labelling hate speech ‘unacceptable’ and the direct opposite to the league’s ‘values of equality, inclusion and respect’. Their statement read: “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.”
Nets general manager Sean Marks suggested Irving could still be disciplined by the team but the organisation was addressing it internally. He added that the team is having discussions with the Anti-Defamation League and getting advice on the best course of action. He would not say whether Irving was a part of those discussions with the ADL.
On Tuesday, the Nets revealed they had parted ways with head coach Steve Nash. The announcement came before the Nets’ 108-99 loss against the Bulls to go 2-6 on the season, with Jacque Vaughn appointed as interim head coach.
Against the Bulls, Irving started the night 0-for-7 from the field - including 0-of-4 from three-point range - and he didn’t score his first points until there was 10:20 left in the fourth quarter.
The guard finished with four points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Zach LaVine recorded 20 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Bulls to victory.
