No matter how you feel about the start of the 2022-23 season, we can all agree that it’s been one wild ride so far. Out of the gate, there have been a number of surprises from teams that have underachieved and overachieved.
Of course, that’s not even mentioning all the off-court drama that has transpired over just a few weeks. In Golden State, Draymond Green had to separate himself from the team after punching his own teammate, Jordan Poole, during a heated exchange in practice.
TMZ Sports reports that the two teammates were trash-talking each other, but Green took things to the next level when Poole started calling fouls, telling the B-word to Poole repeatedly. Then, when Poole talked about his contract extension, things got out of control, and Green just hit his teammate.
Things escalated when Poole allegedly said, “You know what it is, Draymond.” — seemingly bragging over the contract situation — and Draymond got in Poole’s face, allegedly saying, “No I don’t know, what is it?”
It wasn’t long after that when the Brooklyn Nets devolved into complete chaos. After a slow start, they fired head coach Steve Nash only to be faced with a new controversy involving Kyrie and claims of antisemitism.
After Kyrie shared a link to the 2018 film, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” many people reacted to it, including Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai. Tsai didn’t like any of that and sent a message to Kyrie, showing his disappointment with the player.
Just like he did with the movie, Kyrie took to Twitter to reply to the comments made by Tsai and the rest of the NBA community, making it clear that he’s not anti-Semite and he’s not against any religion by any means.
“I am an OMNIST and I meant no disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs. The “Anti-Semitic” label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not reflect the reality or truth I live in everyday. I embrace and want to learn from all walks of life and religions.”
Through it all, the NBA has been uncharacteristically silent (aside from a statement from Adam Silver), refusing to punish Irving for his latest statements. But are they in the wrong for this behavior?
Brian Windhorst Blasts Adam Silver For Not Taking Action Against Kyrie Irving
On his podcast this week, well-known NBA insider Brian Windhorst decided to point his finger toward Adam Silver himself for allowing this string of controversies to go unpunished and unaddressed by the league.
“There are little fires everywhere, where is the fire chief? Adam Silver has been completely absent,” Windy said. “He’s just been absent.”
The league is normally proactive in its approach to these matters, but they have taken a surprisingly hands-off approach when it comes to the dilemmas this season.
We will see if that changes, but it hasn’t taken long for the league to get called out on it.
