Just hours after parting ways with head coach Steve Nash on Tuesday (and with reports that they will likely hire suspended Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka), the Brooklyn Nets played the Chicago Bulls in a game televised nationally on TNT. This game also came just a few days after Nets star Kyrie Irving promoted an antisemitic film on his social media accounts (and then followed it up with a press conference in which he blasted the media for questioning his post).
The Nets condemned Irving’s promotion of the antisemitic film, but then — in a puzzling decision — general manager Sean Marks said ahead of Tuesday night’s game that Irving wouldn’t speak to the media because the Nets “don’t want to cause more fuss right now” and they want to “let him simmer down.” All the NBA did was release a very weak statement on the situation that didn’t even name Irving.
Well, with Tuesday’s game on TNT, there was no doubt that the Inside the NBA crew would address this situation.
Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal did not hold back with their criticism of Irving, as well as their criticism of Adam Silver and the NBA for not suspending Irving (who they each referred to as an “idiot”).
Barkley:
“I think he should have been suspended.”
Chuck reacts to Kyrie Irving’s social media posts promoting an antisemitic film pic.twitter.com/IOLVVrSv0l
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 1, 2022
“I think the NBA dropped the ball. I think he should have been suspended. I think Adam [Silver] should have suspended him.
First of all, Adam’s Jewish. You can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion. If you’re going to insult me, you have the right, but I have the right to say, ‘No, you’re not going to take my $40 million and insult my religion.’
I think the NBA made a mistake. We have suspended people and fined people who have made homophobic slurs. And that was the right thing to do. I think if you insult the Black community, you should be suspended or fined heavily, depending… I saw they did the same thing to the kid in Minnesota this year when he made the gay slur. I think you should get suspended or fined.
I think him acknowledging the Alex Jones things… something should’ve happened with that too, because that dude’s crazy. I can’t believe we ain’t talking about basketball; we’re talking about this idiot.
If I say, ‘Hey, I’m agreeing with this movie, this book, or whatever,’ I’m agreeing with it. You know I don’t do any social media, but when you’re somebody as great as basketball like him, people are going to listen to what you say…
I blame the NBA. He should’ve been suspended…
It’s too late now… It’s too late… The reason it’s too late… the NBA is giving in to peer pressure. If one of our players does something, the team or the league has to do something immediately. If you just give in to peer pressure, that’s the problem I have. This should’ve been handled already.”
O’Neal:
“It hurts me sometimes when we have to sit up here and talk about stuff that divides the game.”
Shaq on Kyrie Irving pic.twitter.com/r3haGIj0U9
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 1, 2022
“I was probably one of the first guys on Twitter, and when I realized the power it had, I knew I had to be very responsible. Followers, platform, whatever you call it, I knew I had to be responsible…
You have to be aware of what you’re doing, and you have to be aware that sometimes when you put stuff out, not everybody is going to like it. Some people are conscious, some are not. I can tell that [Kyrie] is not conscious and that he doesn’t care what’s going on. But us, I know that the game we used to love and promote brings people together. It hurts me sometimes when we have to sit up here to talk about stuff that divides the game. That we gotta answer for what this idiot has done.
I stand for equality of all people. I’ve always been like that. It don’t matter what religion, it don’t matter where you’re from…
I don’t really want to sit up here and answer questions for what he’s done…
It’s obvious by his answers, and the way he’s answered, he doesn’t really care.”
The Nets went on to lose 108-99 to the Bulls. Irving scored four points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field over 33 minutes played.
[Photo Credit: TNT]
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.