Following the Boston Celtics’ victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Celtics star Jaylen Brown was asked about his apparent criticism of Net’s owner Joe Tsai and the handling of the on-going suspension levied against Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving. Brown re-stated his concern with the length and parameters of the punishment during a postgame press conference.
Brown serves as vice president for the the player’s association and is Irving’s former teammate. He has been vocal with his support for a fair and clear pathway for Kyrie’s return to the court amid a suspension that is lacking in a clear timeline.
A few weeks ago Irving shared a misleading and antisemitic documentary to his Instagram page, and was ultimately suspended by the Nets following a string of adversarial press conferences. Irving has since apologized for his behavior, saying, “to all my Jewish families and communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize.”
The Nets announced Irving would miss several games and would need to complete a series of steps in order to be reinstated by the team, including sensitivity training and meeting with Jewish leaders.
More recently, Tsai claimed Irving still has “more work to do” before returning to the court. Brown tweeted his displeasure with Tsai’s comments, and expanded on those feelings Monday night in Boston.
“Tsai’s response was alarming to me.” Brown said “He didn’t say that the organization was working together to get Kyrie back on the floor. He said that Kyrie had more work to do. And as vice president of the players union, it’s part of my job to protect our players legally.”
Later in the press conference, Brown reiterated his chief concern is with a perceived lack of clarity and the overall process governing the Nets’ decisions.
“The terms that Brooklyn has instituted for his return, I’ve already voiced my discomfort.” Brown said. “Some of our players, some people in the media, have voiced some of their discomfort with that. We’ve yet to hear, what is the latest with that situation? It’s still an indefinite suspension. Kyrie’s already missed five or six games.”
Brown was asked about what he thought would signal contrituion and growth from Irving. Brown for his part suggested this was “uncharted territory” for the league and PA.
“I think if you are asking for need to say something to the common public, I’m not sure if that is something that Kyrie is looking to do.” Brown said.
“I don’t think he meant any harm by posting it. Obviously it came off as insensitive to a lot of people. But Adam Silver came out with a statement saying he doesn’t believe Kyrie Irving is anti-semitic. Joe Tsai came out and said in a statement that they don’t believe he is anti semitic. Those were their words. He already apologized.”
Brown did hint there were more than a procedural elements to his specific concerns. During the press conference, he made mention of broader systems within the NBA and beyond that needed to be considered when trying to understand the situation.
“Our society has more work to do, including Joe Tsai.” Brown said. “It’s 2022, it takes ten minutes of time to see who these business owners, corporations, etc, who they’re associated with, who they’re doing business with, who they’re affiliated with. I think it’s time for a larger conversation.”
Brown largely stuck to commentary regarding the vagueness of any possible return to action for Irving and suggested Tsai’s assessment of Irving was unclear.
“The comment that Joe Tsai made, which I feel like bothered a lot of people, was ‘he has more work to do.’ What does that mean?” Brown said. “Our society has more work to do, including Joe Tsai. So I’m curious to know what that is, what that means.”
As one of the union’s most vocal leaders, Brown grounded his criticisms and concerns in his role as a vice president in the NBPA.
“This is our league.” Brown said. “We are all basketball players, but we all are human beings as well. So I’m looking forward to seeing the union and NBA figure out what the next steps are.”
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