After promoting an antisemitic film, Kyrie Irving has pledged a $500,000 donation

Nets star Kyrie Irving and the team have pledged $500,000 to “causes and organisations that seek to eliminate bigotry and prejudice in our communities” after Irving tweeted about an antisemitic documentary the week before. After Irving tweeted the link, this happened.

The Anti-Defamation League, a non-profit organisation that works to combat antisemitism, the Brooklyn Nets, and Irving all released statements in which they announced their contributions together.

Irving added in the statement, “I am aware of the bad impact my tweet had against the Jewish community, and I take responsibility.” “I do not think that all that was expressed in the documentary was factual, nor do I feel that it reflects my ideals and principles.”

Irving continued by saying that he “meant no damage to any one tribe, race, or religion of people” and that his goal was “just to be a beacon of truth and light.”

During a difficult postgame press conference on Saturday, Irving originally defended the post, but he withdrew it the next day.

When asked whether Irving will be subject to any sort of disciplinary action from the Nets, the Nets declined to comment. When asked if Irving would be subject to disciplinary action by the NBA, the NBA Association did not provide a response.

Shortly after Kyrie Irving tweeted a link to the video on Twitter, the National Basketball Association and the players’ union both issued separate comments condemning antisemitism. However, neither statement named Irving, even though he is a vice president in the players’ union.

According to the statement sent by the union, it is “dedicated to helping players fully grasp that some statements can contribute to the spread of hostile views.” According to a statement released by the NBA, the organisation will be working toward “identifying and combatting” hate speech in the future.

In a message that he published on Twitter on Friday, only Joe Tsai, the owner of the Nets, mentioned Kyrie Irving by name.

According to him, he located the documentary on the Amazon website by conducting a search for the phrase “yahweh,” which is the Hebrew word for God.

“Did I do something illegal?” Irving stated. “Did I damage anybody? Did I injure anybody? Am I going to publicise the fact that I have a strong aversion to a certain kind of people?

After some time had passed, he went on to say, “I’m not going to back down on anything I believe in. I can only see my strength increasing from here on out. Because I’m not alone. I am surrounded on all sides by a whole army.”

In contravention of the regulations of the league, the Nets did not make him available to the media following the home games that they played on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, the general manager of the Nets, Sean Marks, stated that the franchise did not “want to make more controversy right now, more engagement with people” in reference to Irving not speaking to the media at this time. In addition to this, he admitted that Irving’s press conference on Saturday did not go over very well.

Marks stated on Tuesday that the reason Irving was not punished by the team was because the Nets were having discussions with the Anti-Defamation League.

On Tuesday night, a question was posed to Marks about how he would react to Nets supporters who stated that they no longer wanted to cheer for the club.

“Look, it’s understandable,” Marks remarked. “I’m fully sympathetic to the circumstances that have arisen here. I can’t say that I’m very pleased with the predicament that we find ourselves in.

Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls resulted in a loss for the Nets, bringing their overall record to 2-6. TNT was the network that aired the game. Irving’s comments, as well as those of the NBA and its players in response to those comments, have come under heavy fire from three former players who now work as broadcasters for TNT. Charles Barkley stated that the NBA ought to have punished Kyrie Irving, while Reggie Miller criticised other players for not speaking out against Irving’s post. Shaquille O’Neal referred to Irving as a “idiot.” Reggie Miller criticised other players for not speaking out against Irving’s tweet.