Kyrie Irving’s most recent controversy has come with him sharing an Anti-Semitic film on Twitter and not being apologetic about it at all. The situation has been so contentious that even the Brooklyn Nets were forced to issue a statement about them distancing themselves from what Irving had to say.
While many have been trying to say that this story isn’t worth much because Irving didn’t intend to be Anti-Semitic, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley on Inside The NBA have heavily criticized Kyrie for this latest scandal.
“It hurts me sometimes when we have to sit up here to talk about stuff that divides the game. That we gotta answer for what this idiot has done.”
Shaq speaks on Kyrie Irving pic.twitter.com/PsB38MiMqk
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 1, 2022
Shaquille O’Neal: “I was probably one of the first guys on Twitter and I soon realized the power it had, I knew I had to be very responsible… You have to be aware of what you’re doing and when you put stuff out, not everybody is going to like it. Some people are conscious, some are not. I can tell that he (Kyrie) is not conscious and that he doesn’t care what’s going on. With us, I know the game we used to love and promote brings people together It hurts me sometimes when we have to sit up here to talk about stuff that divides the game. That we gotta answer for what this idiot has done. I stand for equality.”
Shaq is right to feel the way he does, while Charles Barkley had this to say.
"I think he should have been suspended. I think Adam [Silver] should have suspended him. They made a mistake… I can't believe we're talking about this idiot."
Charles Barkley on Kyrie Irving
(via @NBAonTNT)https://t.co/Jt8l38S8Vi
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 1, 2022
Charles Barkley: “I think he should have been suspended. I think Adam [Silver] should have suspended him. First of all, Adam’s Jewish. You can’t take my $40 million dollars and insult my religion. If 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 dollars and insult my religion.’ I think the NBA made a mistake. We have suspended people and fined people who have made homophobic slurs – and that was the right thing to do. I think if you insult the Black community, you should be suspended or fined heavily, depending. I saw they did the same thing to the kid in Minnesota this year [Anthony Edwards] when he made the gay slur. I think you should get suspended or fined.”
When 2 NBA legends come out with such strong opinions, it might lead to the NBA looking into Irving and possibly suspending him for a game or two.
Is A Suspension For Irving Valid?
Considering what happened to Anthony Edwards for making homophobic comments during the offseason, the NBA might have to give some sort of punishment to Kyrie for what he did. Naturally, this may lead to Irving wanting to protest the same by not playing the games, but the NBA has to be consistent in how they deal with matters of hate towards another community.
Another Irving controversy as the Nets’ head coach, Steve Nash, gets fired to bring in former assistant coach under Nash, Ime Udoka, means that this is going to be yet another interesting year in Brooklyn, especially after their slow start to the season.
