LeBron James has condemned former teammate Kyrie Irving after the Brooklyn Nets player was suspended for promoting a documentary that included anti-semitic material.
Irving is serving a five-game ban for the Nets after drawing attention to the film 'Hebrews to Ne*****: Wake Up Black America', by sharing a link to the show on Twitter. The documentary includes Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories concerning Jewish people. The seven-time NBA all-star also had his sponsorship deal suspended by Nike, who have cancelled their next shoe release with the 30-year-old.
Irving has since apologised for his social media activity that has received widespread backlash, despite initially defending sharing the link to the film. NBA veteran James played alongside Irving for the Cleveland Cavaliers between 2014 and 2017. And LA Lakers star James has now opened up on the harm that Irving has caused for sharing such offensive material.
“I believe that what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people," James said. "He apologised. But he caused some harm and I think it’s unfortunate. But I don’t stand on the position to harm people when it comes to your voice or your platform or anything. So it doesn’t matter what color your skin is, how tall you are, what position you’re in.
He continued: "If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harms people, then I don’t respect it. I don’t condone it. I can tell you this, it’s simple. Me personally, I don’t condone any hate to any kind. To any race. To Jewish communities, to Black communities, to Asian communities. You guys know where I stand."
“I hope [Irving] understands what he did and the actions that he took are just harmful to a lot of people. I really didn’t get into it too much. But, I understand that when you’re hurting anybody, I understand that. That is just common sense.”
Irving is in hot water after his initial refusal to apologise, but he later took to Instagram with an apologetic statement to those who may have been affected by his actions.
"While doing research on YHWH, I posted a documentary that contained some false anti-Semitic statements, narratives, and language that were untrue and offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion, and I take full accountability and responsibly for my actions," he wrote.
"I am grateful to have a big platform to share knowledge and I want to move forward by having an open dialogue to learn more and grow from this. 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 apologise. I had no intentions to disrespect any Jewish cultural history regarding the Holocaust or perpetuate any hate."
