Kyrie’s Irving’s Social Media Controversy

Kyrie Irving is a well-known basketball All-Star who has had a successful career since being the No.1 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and winning the Cavaliers their first championship in franchise history alongside LeBron James. Despite Kyrie Irving’s success, he’s been in the news lately after posting a tweet linked to an antisemitic film last month. On October 27, Kyrie posted a link to the movie “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” which is a 2018 film that claims that the holocaust never happened and that Jewish people are lying about their origins. Kyrie also posted a screenshot of the film’s rental page on his Instagram story on Amazon, and neither of these posts included a comment from Irving.

This isn’t the first time the 30-year-old NBA All-Star has been in the spotlight since Kyrie was criticized in the past when he missed six months of games when he chose not to get the covid-19 vaccinations. Kyrie Irving has a massive following on social media, with over 17.7 million followers on Instagram and 4.6 million followers on Instagram. The tweet he posted was very hostile to Jewish people, leading to him getting a five-game ban from the Nets. This five-game ban will cost Irving at least $2 million in NBA salary. Kyrie and his team donated $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League, a charity that combats hate speech.

On November 4, Nike announced that they would be suspending their sponsorship deal with Kyrie and putting a release on Kyrie 8 sneakers. Nike has now asked retailers to remove his unreleased shoes from their store shelves and put them in their back rooms since they were scheduled to be released on November 11. However, the current shoes released before the tweet can still be sold along with Kyrie-branded apparel. Nike might even end its relationship with Kyrie altogether after Nike Founder Phil Knight was interviewed on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and said, “Kyrie stepped over the line. It’s kind of that simple. And so he made some statements that we just can’t abide by. And that’s where we ended the relationship,” and also said, “I doubt that we would go back, but I don’t know for sure.” Kyrie’s deal with Nike ends after the 2022-2023 season, and Kyrie hasn’t had a good relationship with Nike after calling the designs of the Kyrie 8 “trash” in an Instagram post in July 2021.

These are the shoes Nike has suspended releasing

Kyrie eventually did apologize for his actions a week later via Instagram. However, his ban for five games continues from the Brooklyn Nets. NBA Lakers Star and former teammate of Kyrie Irving, Lebron James, posted a Twitter post defending Kyrie, saying, “Kyrie Apologized, and he should be able to play” and “That’s what I think. It’s simple. Help him learn-but he should be playing.” Lebron wasn’t the only player to recognize Kyrie’s suspension since Celtics star, and National Basketball Players Association Vice President Jaylen Brown believes the union will appeal Kyrie’s suspension. Jaylen Brown has told the Boston Globe, “I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic,” and “I don’t think people in our governing bodies think he’s antisemitic. He made a mistake.”

Kyrie is set to return to the court against the Lakers on November 13, which is also an away game but will home Nets fans be ready to welcome Kyrie back to the team when they play in Barclays center on November 20 against the Memphis Grizzlies? “More than one million Jews live in New York City, and roughly 60 percent are in Brooklyn” On November 9th, several Black Hebrew Israelite group members peacefully protested Irving’s suspension during the Nets Vs. Knicks game. Will Kyrie Irving continue to play for the Brooklyn Nets? Will Kyrie Irving’s social media posts lead to an early end to his career?

Black Hebrew Israelite group protests Kyrie Irving’s suspension near Barclays Center.