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NETS SUSPEND KYRIE IRVING

The Brooklyn Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving for at least five games, but possibly longer if he doesn’t take “objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct.”

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Chicago Bulls v Brooklyn Nets Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

At the end of a 24-hour period that saw an agreement among Kyrie Irving, the Nets and the Anti-Defamation league to combat hate following his promotion of antisemitic material; a corresponding message from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver condemning Irving for not apologizing; and Irving doubling down during a six-minute media scrum, the expected has happened: the Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving for at least five games and possibly longer for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

From the team’s official statement:

“We have decided that Kyrie will serve a suspension without pay until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct and the suspension period served is no less than five games.”

The suspension is without pay, meaning at least a loss of $2.2 million in salary.

The Nets did not define the “series of objective remedial measures” but Silver said that Irving needed to apologize and condemn the video, Hebrews to Negroes, which Silver described as “vile and harmful content.” Since Irving’s promotion of the video, it has jumped to No. 1 on the Amazon best-sellers in two categories, “Best Sellers in Religion & Spirituality” and in “Best Sellers in Ethnic Studies.”

Here’s the rest of the Nets' statement.

“Over the last several days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate. We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance.

“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.

“Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, we are of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets.”

Meanwhile, Ian Begley of SNY is reporting that ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt says the organization will not be accepting Irving’s $500k donation:

From Greenblatt:

Later, Israel’s UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, tweeted out his praise for the Nets action...

The Nets play again on Friday night. They play in order, the Wizards, Hornets, Mavericks, Knicks and Clippers over the next five games.

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