On Thursday, the Nets suspended point guard Kyrie Irving at least five game without pay for promoting an antisemitic film on Twitter. Irving has since apologized on Instagram after he gave multiple controversial press conferences in which he failed to say sorry.
Irving’s teammate Kevin Durant hadn’t spoken about this specific situation until Friday, and the star forward chose not to criticize the point guard. Durant appeared to say he believes the actions taken by the organization were too intrusive.
“I ain’t here to judge nobody or talk down to nobody for how they feel their views and things,” he said. “I just didn’t like anything that went on; I felt like it was all unnecessary. I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization.”
After the press conference, Durant went on Twitter to clarify his comments, saying he doesn’t “condone hate speech or anti-semetism [sic]” in any way.
When the Nets suspended Irving, the organization explained it felt it had worked with the point guard to help him understand what he did wrong, but he didn’t choose to apologize until after he was suspended.
“Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team,” the Nets said. “Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver also released a statement Thursday, in which he said he plans on meeting with Irving next week after his “reckless decision.”
