Kyrie Irving complained about ‘I’m a Jew and I’m proud’ sign at Jazz game, claims Utah Rabbi

Kyrie Irving was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets when he played for them, for promoting an antisemitic movie.

Kyrie Irving complained about ‘I’m a Jew and I’m proud’ sign at Jazz game, claims Utah Rabbi

Kyrie Irving and the Rabbis present during the Utah Jazz-Dallas Mavericks game (via Open Source/X)

Kyrie Irving during his time with the Brooklyn Nets was suspended in November 2022 for promoting an antisemitic movie on his Twitter page. This prompted Rabbi Avremi Zippel, a prominent figure in Utah’s Jewish community and a lifelong, die-hard Utah Jazz fan to make a statement when Irving, now with the Maverick Dallas, visited the Delta Center, Salt Lake City for a game against the Utah Jazz.

Rabbi Zippel, accompanied by three other rabbis, confidently displayed signs proclaiming “I’m a Jew and I’m proud” from their front-row seats at the court. This sparked a reaction from Irving, prompting security to intervene in the process.

YouTube video

Intent on expressing their thoughts to Irving, the Rabbis secured courtside seats. As the game unfolded, the Mavs guard approached the sideline for an inbounds pass and noticed Rabbi Zippel and his family. This led to a conversation that Rabbi Zippel vividly recounts.:

FS Video
He comes by, he looks at the sign, and he says, 'Nice. I’m a Jew, too.’
Rabbi Zippel said

Zippel said Irving then yelled to them after receiving the pass and moving up the court:

Don’t gotta bring something like that to the game.
Rabbi Zippel added about Kyrie Irving

During the timeout that followed, a security guard came over to his father asked to see their tickets and walked away. But, Zippel said, about 30 seconds later, another security guard came over and told them:

You need to put the signs down.
Security guard to the Rabbi

Subsequently, a Jazz executive approached Zippel at his seat, offering an apologetic explanation about the arena’s policy against bringing signs to front-row seats. Zippel further revealed that another Jazz executive informed him during halftime that the issue arose after Irving had complained to security.

Utah Jazz releases statement following Utah Rabbi incident

In a statement on Tuesday, the Utah Jazz emphasized that Zippel’s signs breached arena rules designed to ensure games proceed without distraction or disruption. The team clarified that if a sign, regardless of its location in the arena, becomes distracting or prompts interaction with a player, removal will be requested.

Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving (Credits: CODE Sports)

The statement read:

During an out-of-bounds play in the first quarter of yesterday’s Jazz game against the Dallas Mavericks, there was a group sitting courtside whose signs sparked an interaction with a player that created a distraction and interfered with play of game. As the next step in standard security protocol, the fans were asked to take down their signs. The issue was the disruptive interaction caused by usage of the signs, not the content of the signs.
Utah Jazz’s statement

Zippel expressed disbelief, asserting that his sign did not violate the written policy, and he deemed the decision to ban it as “really sad and profoundly troubling” to him.

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