NEW YORK — After initially saying Friday he wished the Nets had “kept quiet as an organization,” Kevin Durant took to Twitter to try and clarify those comments.
“I see some people are confused,” Durant tweeted about his shootaround comments he made when discussing the firestorm over Kyrie Irving’s antisemitic controversy. ”I don’t condone hate speech or anti-semetism, I’m about spreading love always. Our game Unites people and I wanna make sure that’s at the forefront.”
Hours after the Nets suspended Irving for a minimum of five games for failure to issue a legitimate apology after posting a link to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” — a film filled with hateful antisemitic rhetoric — on his social media channels last week, Durant shared his thoughts for the first time.
“I ain’t here to judge nobody or talk down on nobody for how they feel, their views or anything, it’s just … I just didn’t like anything that went on. I feel like it was all unnecessary,” he told reporters. “I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization. I just don’t like none of it.”
Durant called it “an unfortunate situation.”
“It just sucks all around for everybody. Hopefully, we can move past it,” he added. “That’s just the way of the NBA now. Media, so many outlets now and their stories hit pretty fast now. That’s where all the chaos is coming from, from everybody’s opinions. Everybody has an opinion on this situation and we’re hearing it nonstop.
“But once the balls start bouncing and we get into practice none of that stuff seeps into the gym. So that’s the cool part about being in the league. But once you step off the court, everyone got the microphones out and the microscopes looking at you asking you what you feel about it. That’s been difficult. But the game is the constant for us.”
When asked whether or not he thought the five-game suspension was warranted, Durant said he trusts the organization “to do what’s right.”
The Nets issued a statement Thursday night saying Irving “is currently unfit to be associated” with the franchise after Irving held a press conference and refused to apologize.
The team said Irving must complete “a series of objective remedial measures” before he is eligible to be reinstated with the team.
“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. This was not the first time he had the opportunity — but failed — to clarify,” the Nets said in a statement.
After the penalty has handed down, Irving then took to Instagram to try and offer the type of apology both the Nets and the NBA had been looking for all week.
“To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize. I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary,” he wrote. “I want to clarify any confusion on where I stand fighting against antisemtism by apologizing for posting the documentary without context and a factual explanation outlining the specific beliefs in the Documentary I agreed with and disagreed with.
“I had no intentions to disrespect any Jewish cultural history regarding the Holocaust or perpetuate any hate.”
In addition to Irving’s ban, the Nets (2-6) are in the hiring process to find Steve Nash’s replacement and have also left Ben Simmons at home for at least the first two games of a three-game road trip as he battles soreness in his left knee.
That leaves Durant as the sole star to captain a Nets team set to play the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets and Dallas Mavericks before returning home to host the New York Knicks.
