As the Dallas Mavericks are currently competing in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, part of what has led the team to this amount of success has been star Kyrie Irving, one-half of the dynamic duo with Luka Doncic. However, Irving has had his string of controversies throughout his career with one being when he reposted a documentary on his social media pages that contained antisemitic rhetoric, an event that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he regrets.
These events were happening while Irving was with the Brooklyn Nets where after posting the antisemitic documentary, he was suspended for eight games in November of 2022. Silver, who is Jewish himself, said in a statement about the aforementioned suspension that it was “reckless” what Irving did and was disappointed he did not offer “an unqualified apology.”
Silver says the Mavericks star in Irving is “very remorseful”
There was two times before the suspension that Irving spoke to the media and would not condemn the rhetoric in the movie on Amazon and apologize. The Mavericks star would eventually do so as fast forward to June of 2024, Silver said per private conversations with the star, “he was very remorseful” according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“Absolutely,” Silver said. “I think in our private conversations, which at the time included (former NBPA executive director) Tamika Tremaglio … he was very remorseful. He took responsibility. I think we all know he can be a bit stubborn, and I think he felt strongly that he needed to speak in his own words in terms of how he expressed himself in terms of an apology to the public.
“But there was no doubt for me,” Silver continued. “And I wouldn’t have said what I did at the time if I didn’t feel that he was absolutely remorseful and was committed to doing the right thing going forward, and also to being empathetic to how others might have perceived his comments.”
Silver says Irving has “refocused himself” on basketball, now with Dallas
Silver would say his thoughts when speaking to the media during an NBA Cares event Friday after Game 1 of the NBA Finals where Dallas lost as Irving scored 12 points. However, Silver expressed his confidence that Irving is on the right path saying he has “refocused himself on the game of basketball.”
“I felt comfortable vouching for him, in essence, because I knew him,” Silver said. “I knew his character and felt that it was important that — while he acknowledged that he had made a mistake — that his entire career and character not be framed by one bad moment, I mean, having said that, he paid a price, of course, for that misstep. But he did a lot (to make amends).
“I won’t even go into the details, because he chose not to share it,” Silver continued. “But he saw it as an opportunity for himself to better himself, to become better educated about these issues. And again, he didn’t want that publicized, but I felt (that) he worked through those issues. But then the question was, ‘What was he going to learn from it?’ And I think the fact that he’s refocused himself on the game of basketball, on his family, on being a good member of the community, is great to see. And now I’m just enjoying watching him compete on the floor.”
Irving claims he is “not antisemitic”
Irving had to go through a process to return to the Nets at the time where the organization gave him six steps which per Shams Charania, were to “Apologize/condemn movie, $500K donation to anti-hate causes, Sensitivity training, Antisemitic training, Meet with ADL, Jewish leaders, Meet with Joe Tsai to demonstrate understanding.”
After the suspension, Irving would post on social media apologizing for what he had done and also made an appearance with SNY's Ian Begley talking about everything that has happened to him. When Begley asked bluntly if he was anti-semitic, Irving said he was not.
“No, I am not antisemitic. I never have been,” Irving said. “I don’t have hate in my heart for the Jewish people or for anyone that identifies as a Jew. I’m not anti-Jewish or any of that. It’s been difficult to sit at home with my family with them seeing all this and having questions and the part that hasn’t been hard is explaining myself, because I know who I am and what I represent.”
Irving said he “meant no harm” when reposting antisemitic film
Irving was also asked about the film itself that he reposted on his social media for a bevy of people to see which contained falsehoods about the Jewish people, one part even saying that they have made up past tragedies to them. The current Mavericks star said he “meant no harm.”
“Well number one, I meant no harm,” Irving said. “I didn’t want to be put in a position where I’m against any community. Like I said during the press conference after one of the games, I just went to look up my name Kyrie, which also translates in Hebrew to ‘Yahweh’ and I wanted to share the link with all those that were also on the same journey and search for their heritage as I am on.
“The unfortunate aspect in that documentary is the antisemitic remarks in terms of generalizing Jewish people,” Irving continued. “I believe that was unfair, and that wasn’t the aspect of the post that I wanted the focus to be on. The initial post was supposed to be for all those who were searching for more information, more history and are able to interpret it in a way where they see it as progressive and they learn something from it. Again, it’s just a post. There’s no context I put into it. I was just watching a video to learn more about my heritage through a deeper dive into who I am. Unfortunately in that process I hurt some people, and I’m sorry for that.”
Irving trying to bring the Mavericks another championship
After all the controversy, Irving is now with Dallas and the rest of it is history as they are now in the NBA Finals. This season, Irving has averaged 25.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 49.7 percent from the field.
He has especially been exceptional in the postseason with huge performances in the series wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, the Mavericks are down 0-1 in the series after a dominating win by the Celtics in Game 1 as they look to bounce back Sunday night for Game 2.
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