“Let Kyrie go back and play!” Stephen A. Smith voices his outrageous opinion about the NBA scapegoating Kyrie Irving over antisemitic controversy
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Kyrie Irving, Stephen A. Smith
On Friday, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith defended Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving by drawing parallels between George Floyd’s murder and Irving’s expulsion from the team. The NBA community has responded strongly to Irving’s punishment for posting an antisemitic movie on social media and Stephen A. is back with another perspective.
In a recent situation, Kyrie Irving was forced to choose between taking responsibility for his unacceptable actions and allowing himself to become what many people see as a never-ending disaster. Last week, Irving advertised a film on social media that featured offensive antisemitic content. Since then, Irving has refrained from apologizing or expressing regret for the movie’s theme only doing so when it was already too late. Stephen A. Smith is back as he urges the Nets’ organization to uplift Irving’s recent suspension.
On Friday, Smith sent out a cryptic tweet that stated: “America don’t think I haven’t noticed what you have done! Let Kyrie go back and play!.” This is in reference to yesterday’s “First Take” edition where Smith defended Kyrie in the strongest possible terms. In the episode, he said: “This list that’s been put out there… I don’t want to hear about sensitivity training and all this other stuff. Because when you put those as conditions for him being allowed back into the league, you are emasculating this man.”
What did Kyrie Irving do in order to get a great amount of backlash?
Kyrie Irving was capable of linking his despicable actions from last Friday by posting a link to the 2018 antisemitic film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” on Twitter and Instagram. The film is based on the same-named book that appeared unsettling and some individuals have claimed that both the book and the film had antisemitic undertones. The NBA and Irving’s sponsor Nike, who parted with the guard both issued comments opposing antisemitism and hate speech in response to the press release that came after.
After publishing the movie’s link, Kyrie Irving and ESPN’s Nick Friedell got into a fight after Friedell questioned him about the notion of endorsing the documentary. Irving and the Nets promised to donate $500k to groups and causes fighting hate and inequality in society. Last week, the team and the Anti-Defamation League jointly released a statement in response to the criticism. The lack of an apology from Irving alarmed NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Nets owner Joe Tsai as well.
Stephen A. Smith continues to support Irving
Towards the end of the episode, Stephen A. said to co-host Kendrick Perkins: “We ain’t supporting what he did. We’re not saying that he did not make a gross error. But forgiveness and compassion is supposed to be a part of who we are. Let’s not forget that when it comes to this brother.” Then Smith claimed that Irving’s suspension had racist connotations as well, speculating that if Irving was white his suspension may have a clear conclusion.
Stephen A. makes the case for more consideration when it comes to condemning Americans of race. According to him, black people have historically shown forgiveness, therefore Irving in this case deserves it. Only time will tell how and where Kyrie Irving’s career will conclude; not everyone in the league believes his future in the league is as promising, and his organization is running out of time.
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Irvin Philip
(701 Articles Published)