Kyrie Irving skips media as courtside fans hope to send Nets message

Circled in a controversy of his own making after promoting a link to an anti-Semitic film, Kyrie Irving was back in the Nets starting lineup Monday. 

Steve Nash was vague when asked about the prospect of any disciplinary action. And The Post spoke with at least one fan who’d give up his season tickets if such action weren’t forthcoming. 

Irving stirred up a controversy by sharing a link to a film titled ”Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” viewed as rampant with anti-Semitic and homophobic disinformation. He drew criticism from Nets owner Joe Tsai and the Anti-Defamation League, whose CEO spoke to Tsai personally. 

A group of seven Orthodox Jews were seated courtside Monday, wearing “FIGHT ANTISEMITISM” T-shirts. They were ribbing Irving, who had 28 points, six assists and six rebounds, and got applause at pregame introductions that were loud if somewhat more muted than the usual roar. 

Kyrie Irving inbounds the ball in front of fans wearing “Stop anti-Semitism” on their shirts.

Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

The All-Star didn’t speak to the media afterward, but did talk to the group of Jewish fans, telling them he was “grateful for you guys.” But Lawrence resident Aaron Jungreis, 52, told The Post that appreciation was dripping in sarcasm. 

“I was expecting that. Look at who you’re dealing with. But [the shirt] was really not for him. It was really for the Nets. They should not keep a guy like that around,” Jungreis told The Post. 

Asked if he’d cancel his season tickets, he replied “Oh, definitely. A lot of people are going to cancel, a lot of people. 

“I think they have to discipline him in some way, and make it sincere for him hopefully, if it’s not sincere, I guess that’s the second best thing.” 

That remains to be seen. 

The Nets and NBA made statements last week clearly directed at Irving, albeit not by name. Tsai publicly rebuked the point guard Friday night. Two nights later, Irving finally deleted the tweet. 

Asked if the organization were satisfied with Irving’s handling of the situation, Nash offered a vague answer that implied it was both above his pay grade and still up in the air. 

Kyrie Irving gives a thumbs-up to fans sitting courtside.

USA TODAY Sports

“That’s an ongoing conversation,” Nash said. “I haven’t been a part of those internal talks, to be honest; I’ve been coaching, preparing the team. But I know they’re looking at that constantly.” 

Both Tsai and Brooklyn GM Sean Marks declined comment when asked about the situation. But it stands to reason any talks on the subject would be at the highest level of the organization. 

Neither the NBA nor Brooklyn suspended or (publicly) fined Irving, either of which would’ve assuredly drawn a strong response from the NBA players’ association, of which Irving has been a vice president since 2020. 

When Nash was pressed on whether the organization had ever considered any sort of discipline whatsoever against Irving, and if finally relenting and taking down the tweet worked in Irving’s favor, he admitted it had. 

“I think it certainly helps,” Nash said. “Like I said, I wasn’t in on all those conversations, so I can’t comment on them.” 

The organization did have a talk with Irving over the promotion of the movie, and while both the team’s and league’s statements conspicuously left out Irving’s name, Tsai directly rebuked him on Twitter. When asked if anyone in the organization directly ordered Irving to take down the link, Nash demurred. 

“I’m not sure about that,” he said. “I knew there was a process in place so I allowed that process to take place. 

“I just hope that we all grow through this together. There’s always an opportunity for us to grow and understand new perspectives. I think the organization is trying to take that stance that we [need to] communicate through this and all come out in a better position with more understanding and wanting to have empathy for every side of this debate and situation.”

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