The Brooklyn Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving for at least five games without pay for failing to fully apologise for boosting an antisemitic movie.
The NBA team finally took action against the All-Star guard a week after he tweeted about the movie Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.
Irving, 30, refused to categorically reject antisemitism when he met with the media on Thursday, after which his team announced the immediate suspension.
“We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film,” the Nets said in a statement.
“This was not the first time he had the opportunity — but failed — to clarify.”
And they added: “We have decided that Kyrie will serve a suspension without pay until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct and the suspension period served is no less than five games.”
The team’s suspension came hours after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver criticised Irving and said that the movie contained “deeply offensive antisemitic material.”
“I am disappointed that he has not offered an unqualified apology and more specifically denounced the vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize,” said Mr Silver.
Kanye West, who himself is embroiled in an antisemitism controversy, returned to Twitter on Thursday and his first post was a photograph of Irving.
Irving, who is not vaccinated against Covid-19, was unable to play in home games until March 2022 because of a New York City vaccination mandate.
He has also previously said that he does not know if the Earth is round or flat, comments for which he apologised.
