The Brooklyn Nets have suspended point guard Kyrie Irving for “at least” five games following a nearly week-long saga. This suspension comes just hours after the point guard did not apologize for the anti-Semitic work he posted the link to on his personal Twitter account. Both the NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the Brooklyn Nets have expressed their disappointment in Irving’s actions and refusal to apologize after. In their statement about the decision, the Nets said that Irving is “currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets.”
The Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 3, 2022
Kyrie Irving is no stranger to making headlines and causing some outrage, but this has been above and beyond anything he has done or said before. Not only did he refuse to apologize he also refused to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.” This was the justification from the Brooklyn Nets for the suspension of “at least” five games. Irving was vague and repeated himself several times earlier on Thursday when speaking to the press. After news broke that Irving had been suspended, the Brooklyn Nets released the following statement to the press:
The Brooklyn Nets have released the following statement about their decision to suspend Kyrie Irving pic.twitter.com/hUHbBDOriZ
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) November 3, 2022
There is currently no word on how much longer than five games the suspension will be. That decision could depend on how Kyrie Irving responds to the situation and if the team feels he learned anything after this. So far this season with the Brooklyn Nets, Irving has averaged 26.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. He pairs those numbers with a field goal percentage of 45.3 percent and a three-point percentage of 28 percent.
We here at Def Pen Sports will update this story when more is learned about the situation.
