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Kyrie Irving, suspended since November 3rd, has rejoined his Nets teammates and is expected to play Sunday night … nearly a month after posting a link to a controversial movie.
30-year-old Irving was at Nets shootaround Sunday morning — hours before BK plays the Grizzlies at Barclays — once again told reporters he wasn’t antisemitic.
“I don’t stand for anything close to hate speech or antisemitism or anything that is going against the human race,” Irving said.
“I feel like we all should have an opportunity to speak for ourselves when things are assumed about us and I feel it was necessary for me to stand in this place and take accountability for my actions, because there was a way I should have handled all this and as I look back and reflect when I had the opportunity to offer my deep regrets to anyone that felt threatened or felt hurt by what I posted, that wasn’t my intent at all.”
Kyrie Irving talks about growing up in a “racial harmonious environment” in New Jersey:
“If you know anything about West Orange, New Jersey, I don’t think I could grow up as an antisemite in that environment because of how much alliance that we feel to one another” pic.twitter.com/U05v3OQVLv
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) November 20, 2022
@SNYNets
Of course, it was way back on October 27th Kyrie tweeted a link to the movie “Hebrew to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” … a film full of antisemitic tropes.
Irving eventually deleted the tweet … but refused to apologize for giving the movie attention. After multiple missed opportunities to apologize, the Nets suspended Kyrie on November 3, saying he was “unfit” to be a Net.
TMZ/Getty Composite
Adam Silver, Nets Owner Joe Tsai Sure Kyrie Irving Is Not Antisemitic After Meetings
But, after meeting several criteria … including a face-to-face with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the Nets organization believes Kyrie has done enough.
“Kyrie took ownership of this journey and had conversations with several members of the Jewish community,” the Nets said in a statement on Sunday. “We are pleased that he is going about the process in a meaningful way.”