Kyrie Irving was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, days after he tweeted a link to a controversial anti-Semitic documentary and later justified his actions.
The team said they made numerous attempts to assist Irving “understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate,” in a statement posted on Twitter.
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For tweeting a link to the 2018 film Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, which is based on Ronald Dalton’s book of the same name and has been criticised as being antisemitic by civil rights groups, Irving was condemned last week, among others by Nets owner Joe Tsai and the NBA.
When Irving “refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film,” during a media session on Thursday, the Nets said they were “dismayed.”
The team said, “this was not the first time he had the opportunity – but failed – to clarify.”
Also read: NBA: Brooklyn Nets suspend Kyrie Irving over antisemitism controversy
After tweeting a link to the movie, Irving was questioned about whether or not he was apologising when he said he didn’t mean to offend anyone.
“I didn’t mean to cause any harm,” Irving claimed. “I’m not the one that made the documentary.”
“I take my full responsibility, again I’ll repeat it, for posting something on my Instagram or Twitter that may have had some unfortunate falsehoods in it,” he added.
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Irving claimed to be 6′ 3″ (6 feet and 3 inches) on Twitter in 2011, despite measuring 6-1 ¾ without shoes for the NBA drafts.
He is married to Marlene Golden Wilkerson, who is a successful blogger and influencer.
As per celebritynetworth.com, his net worth is $90 million.
Following is a comprehensive look at his career statistics as of November 4, 2022.
As of 2019, Irving’s contract with Nike for shoes is worth US$11 million. The second-best-selling line of sneakers in 2017 were his, after LeBron James‘. Signature sneakers are no longer tracked by the NPD Group, although the trend was expected to continue into 2018. Friends and SpongeBob SquarePants have been featured in Irving’s themed sneaker partnerships. The latter set was quickly out of stock.
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He has written, directed, and performed the role of Uncle Drew in a series of commercials, which was later turned into a 2018 feature film. He voiced characters in We Bare Bears (2016) and Family Guy (2018) in addition to appearing in Kickin’ It (2012) as himself.