Three weeks into the NBA season and the Brooklyn Nets remain one of the hottest stories in the league — for all the wrong reasons.
After all the drama involved in parting ways with Steve Nash, Kyrie Irving added more fuel to the fire by attaching himself to an anti-Semitic film and refusing to apologize when called out on it.
Unsurprisingly, Irving has been the subject of criticism by countless individuals, but especially the media, who have been aggressively speaking out against the star point guard.
Still, not everyone is against Uncle Drew. In fact, on Twitter, multiple NBA players (former and current) have come out to make some comments defending or supporting Irving.
https://twitter.com/MELOD1P/status/1588568323692064770
The media is killing the NBA
— Nick Young (@NickSwagyPYoung) November 4, 2022
Where Does Kevin Durant Stand In The Latest Kyrie Irving Situation?
Make of those comments what you will, but it’s clear that Irving is not alone in some of his beliefs. Still, according to Stephen A. Smith, the Nets are basically done with the veteran star, and his behavior through this anti-Semitic controversy was the last straw.
As for Kevin Durant, he stands where he has always stood: in his own corner. In the span of just a few hours, he defended Kyrie Irving, called out the media for spinning the story, and defended himself from anti-Semitic claims.
“I’m not here to judge somebody or talk down on the life or how they feel their views. I just didn’t like anything that went on. I felt like it was all unnecessary. I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization.”
“This is the way the #NBA is now, media, so many outlets now and their stories hit pretty fast now. So that’s where all the chaos is coming from. Everybody has an opinion on the situation, and we’re hearing it nonstop.”
“Just wanna clarify the statements I made at shootaround, I see some people are confused,” Durant later said. “I don’t condone hate speech or anti-Semitism, I’m about spreading love always. Our game Unites people and I wanna make sure that’s at the forefront
Obviously, this is just the latest in what has been a wild ride to start the season in Brooklyn, but one has to imagine things will settle down at some point.
The question is, where will they be when the dust finally settles? With how things are shaping in Milwaukee, Boston, and even Cleveland, the Nets really can’t afford to have all these distractions in the way.
