Jeremiah Griffith 
As of yesterday, November 19, Kyrie Irving has yet to play a single game for the Brooklyn Nets.
Since the incident, where he tweeted and ‘promoted’ Alex Jones’ antisemitic documentary, the public and media have not been forgiving of Irving whatsoever. He issued an apology through a short statement earlier in the month. But, he refused to apologize for ‘promoting hateful messages’ during press conferences, which prompted the team to seek a spoken apology.
Since this happened, Irving has lost much support and faced harsh consequences. He’s received a five-game suspension without pay, the Nets have said he is “unfit” to be part of the organization, and Nike, a lucrative endorsement for Irving, suspended its relationship with Irving.
On top of all this, he still has to abide by the criteria the Nets put forth for him to get a chance to get back on any court, including meeting with Jewish and anti-hate groups.
And recently, he gave an extensive apology that seemed to be a little more remorseful in an interview on SportsNet New York.
“I really want to focus on the hurt that I caused or the impact that I made within the Jewish community. Putting some type of threat, or assumed threat, on the Jewish community,” Irving said. “I just want to apologize deeply for all my actions throughout the time that it’s been since the post was first put up. I’ve had a lot of time to think. But my focus, initially, if I could do it over, would be to heal and repair a lot of my close relationships with my Jewish relatives, brothers, and sisters.”
Irving said he felt attacked when asked why he did not apologize fully at the beginning of this firestorm.
“I felt like I was protecting my character, and I reacted out of just pure defense and just hurt that I could be labeled, or I thought that I was being labeled as antisemitic or anti-Jewish, and I’ve felt like that was just so disrespectful to ask me whether or not I was antisemitic or not,” Irving said. “Now to the outside world, that may have been seen as a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ This is rightfully so; it should’ve been, ‘No, I’m not antisemitic. No, I’m not anti-Jewish.’ I’m a person who believes we should all have equal opportunities and that we should all shower each other with love, and that should be at the forefront.”
Irving is feigning to get back on the court to prove himself and has probably wanted nothing but to prove everyone wrong when he broke up the partnership with LeBron James in Cleveland. He wants to win, but incidents like this and injuries continually hold him back.
While Irving has been treated slightly unfairly during this event, he did not make anything better with his initial resistance to apologize thoroughly. Nevertheless, now he has, and Irving should be allowed to play basketball with the Brooklyn Nets again.
Irving is questionable for Sunday in a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
By Jeremiah Griffith, Junior, Noble Academy
Instagram: theballtalk1
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