Watch: Kyrie Irving succumbs under massive backlash only to reveal the harsh reality following his suspension from antisemitism
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Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving appeared in an exclusive interview with SNY’s Ian Begley on Saturday. The Brooklyn Nets guard said he wants to “apologize deeply” for the harm he had caused by sharing the video of an antisemitic movie last month. Earlier this month Kyrie was given the chance to make a public apology after he refused to answer the media and instead asked them to ‘humanize’ him.
Irving eventually failed to apologize, which led to his suspension by the Brooklyn Nets organization for at least 5 games. Speaking to Begley, 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.”
Kyrie also told Begley that he “should’ve just answered the questions and just moved on.” Irving also said he reacted this way because he was trying to protect his character, and being asked whether he was antisemitic was disrespectful to him.
“I felt like I was protecting my character and reacted out of pure defense…..i’ve felt like that was so disrespectful to ask me whether or not I was antisemitic or not.”
Irving has had a lot of conversations to gather proper knowledge and understand better, stating, “The process over the last few weeks was just a lot of conversations…….they were very moving, very impactful and it helped me become more aware of the repair that needed to be done, the healing that needs to be done still.”
Kyrie Irving says he is not antisemitic and he was being misunderstood
In his Interview with Begley, Kyrie Irving said he was being misunderstood to be an antisemitic person, and these weeks after having a conversation with people around him have given him a greater perspective. “I’m a man who stands for peace. I don’t condone any hate speech or any prejudice and I don’t want to be in a position where I’m being misunderstood on where I stand in terms of antisemitism or any hate for that matter for anybody in this world.“
Acknowledging his mistake he added, “So here I am, just really acknowledging the fact that it hasn’t been easy. Some of it has been painful, just learning about the history between different groups of people. And it’s given me a greater perspective.”
Irving further explained his process of coming to terms with and better understating the larger perspective.
Kyrie Irving is set to be back against the Grizzlies fulfilling all his prerequisites
Irving is all set to make his return against the Memphis Grizzlies tonight after missing 8 games due to suspension. The Brooklyn Nets are in dire need of Irving to fix their slump start of the season. After Nets’ defeat against Sacramento Kings, Kevin Durant dropped a truth bomb regarding the Nets’ roster. Irving had multiple conversations with leaders of the Jewish Community, he had fruitful talks with the Brooklyn Nets’ Joe Tsai and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. After issuing an apology, Irving is all set to put his feet on the floor.
Irving’s return from the suspension wouldn’t be interesting to watch not because he can exponentially change the fate of the games, but also what kind of reception Irving gets from the crowd and the NBA community. Already among the greatest guards to play, the 30-year-old is also one of the most prolific scorers in the history of basketball. Earlier, the Nets had listed Kyrie as ‘questionable’ for their game against the Grizzlies.
The 2016 NBA Champ also said that moving forward he wants to “live with responsibility and set a greater example for our youth, for my generation and the older generation.”
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Nandjee Ranjan
(488 Articles Published)