Mired in controversy, the Brooklyn Nets want to see star guard Kyrie Irving complete six specific actions before he returns to the team.
Irving received a team-issued suspension for at least five games last Thursday for refusing to apologize after posting a link to a film on social media that has anti-Semitic beliefs. Following two media availabilities in which Irving got into a heated exchange with a reporter at one and then side-stepped taking accountability at another, he issued an apology via Instagram late Thursday night.
Despite all that, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who also serves as vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, told The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn on Monday that the NBPA backs Irving when it comes to the imposed steps the Nets set for the seven-time All-Star to play again for the organization.
Brown and the NBPA believe those steps are too harsh, primarily because there isn’t a clause in the collective bargaining agreement regarding social media posts.
Brown also said he has been in contact with Irving and that Irving has a meeting with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday.
“He made a mistake. He posted something,” Brown told Washburn. “There was no distinction. Maybe we can move forward, but the terms in which he has to fulfill to return, I think not just speaking for me, speaking as a vice president from a lot of our players, we didn’t agree with the terms that was required for him to come back and we’re waiting for this Tuesday meeting to happen to see what comes of it. But we’ll go from there. That’s all I’ll say.”
Brown said he thinks the NBPA will appeal Irving’s suspension and the issued terms to return.
“The terms for his return, they seem like a lot and a lot of the players expressed discomfort with the terms,” Brown told Washburn. “It was a violation of our CBA, we don’t have to going into details about that. But I’m expecting the NBPA to appeal and I’m expecting to see what comes out of this meeting on Tuesday.”
Brown spent two seasons playing alongside Irving in Boston and ends up hoping the NBA views his former teammate the way he sees him.
“I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic,” Brown told Washburn. “I don’t think people in our governing bodies think he’s antisemitic. He made a mistake. We understand from an outside perspective how important sensitivity is to not condone hate speech and not condone anything of that nature. It’s sensitivity to the dialect around that. We don’t want to stand up for somebody in order to not condemn hate speech but I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic. And hopefully the NBA feels the same way.”
