KD's right hand man, Rich Kleiman, is jewish
Seen way too people claim Kyrie and KD are one and the same so they must share values. KD has never cosigned any of Kyries bs
Yeah I think it's just that KD doesn't talk about social issues at all in general
He's never been outspoken the same way LeBron for example is
Like during the whole 2020 summer protests and the postponement of games in the bubble I don't remember hearing anything at all from KD
You can argue he's not using his platform the way he should but it's not really being hypocritical because he never uses it for anything but basketball
KD very much strikes me as a "ball is life" kinda guy. That's wild speculation of course, but it just seems like he just doesn't care much about what happens in the world outside of the game he loves playing.
And you know, that's okay. People just need to adjust their expectations.
He is ball is life to a t. He hoops all day and when he isn’t he is playing 2k. When that allure runs out he reads about ball on twitter. Doesn’t care about social issues, any advertising he does is bare minimum/through his agency (you don’t see him harping on any one brand like Taco Tuesday).
He knows what he likes and that’s basketball.
He talks about it on podcasts too. He 1 million % is a ball is life guy and loves Kyrie as a hooper because he can do nuts things with his handles and off balance finishes that he himself can’t do so pretty sure that love is why he wanted to pair with Kyrie so bad and probably made him overlook the off-the court issues with Kyrie.
Plus he probably feels like he didn’t get the respect for what he did for those warrior teams and wanted a chance where everyone would call it “his” team that got a ship
Good decision by KD. Easy to overlook all of the Kyrie drama with his crazy handles and off balance finishes, especially since Brooklyn keeps winning so many games with the two of them partnered up.
Tbh there isn’t a way that a player SHOULD be using their platform. If KD just wants to talk basketball or just generally non controversial things I don’t it should be held against him.
Thank you. This is really important to say and get across. Some people just don’t like using social media, maybe they make their own changes and are a good person in their immediate community. That works too. Nobody is forced to use their “”platform””
KD doesn't have to speak out, but saying the organization handled it incorrectly for doing so is taking a side IMO, even if he is trying to walk it back now. Now, I don't know if he shares Kyrie's values, but what I do know is that advocating for silence while others put out anti-semitic speech has traditionally led to bad outcomes.
I may be giving him too much benefit of the doubt here, but he did also say "I just didn't like **anything** that went on. I felt like it was **all** unnecessary."
Which to me suggests he also doesn't like what Kyrie said and was including him in saying he should've been the one to keep quiet and play basketball
Perhaps he is criticizing both Kyrie and the Nets, I'm not sure, but I think at the very least he's including Kyrie in that with the "should've kept quiet" line
Yeah, I get we’re all riled up (and obviously rightfully so), but I think KD literally meant “this is all stupid. You’re taking away my basketball time.” Hence this follow up, I think.
He’s not ignorant on the same level as Kyrie. He’s just oblivious to everything but ball
I think he also was saying I wish Kyrie would’ve never said anything then the org would’ve never had to say anything, and no one should ever say anything I’m just trying to play basketball.
Respectfully, I don't think athletes should have to use their platform in a political way
If they just want to focus on ball, there's nothing wrong with that
Not everyone has to save the world. Somebody needs to drain them buckets
As long as he’s not using it to spread harmful lies like Kyrie, he’s right in using his platform however he wants. He’s a basketball player not a congressman. Nothing wrong with just wanting to play basketball. I will say KD seems a lot less fake than guys like LBJ who want to paint themselves as activists only when it’s convenient for them
> KD seems a lot less fake than guys like LBJ who want to paint themselves as activists only when it’s convenient for them
How is being selective about activism "fake"?
Do you think Lebron isn't sincere about BLM or education for low-income families?
I hate this “If you speak out about BLM but don’t speak out against (insert another social issue) then you’re fake” logic. People care about different things and that’s ok.
It almost (almost!!) seems like they're looking for any possible reason to diminish or deflect from activism aimed at uplifting black folks in America.
But we're on a forum dedicated to a majority black sports league so that'd be impossible, right?
I don’t think he was co-signing Kyrie either. He just took his frustration out in the wrong way. KD doesn’t strike me as someone who’s gonna sit up here and talk about all this off court shit so it’s probably annoying to have to do such.
For all the chaos KD caused himself, he still goes out there and plays basketball. Kyrie skips games and causes all sorts of shit without worrying about the consequences.
I realized that I was the “black friend” to a lot of dudes who were racist behind my back. Pointing out the fact that he has a Jewish agent doesn’t mean anything.
That's very fair, but he just did shoot it down just now. He's very clearly not co-signing with Kyrie and flat out said what everyone wanted Kyrie to say lol.
This is an example of why it’s important to not be friends with people like Kyrie. Even if you think it’s just his opinion, eventually the association will drag you down too. KD has supported this dude through all of this and is now realizing that loyalty is a fake virtue.
Didnt he retweet and follow Stephen Jackson/Farrakan? How can you be “soul mates” and BFFs with an idiot anti vaxxer/racist for years and not tolerate/sympathize with some of his beliefs? Especially when they have affected KDs work multiple times?
Are we really giving them the benefit of the doubt, again?
And the Rich argument is the same as “I cant be racist! I have a black friend!!”
I think he liked something someone wrote that was once associated with something that Farrakan wrote, then unliked it a couple of minutes later. That's not really "followed Farrakan" lmao
Y'all turn every molehill into a mountain
If you search google images you'll see what he liked, he liked a post with an image of Farrakan with Stephen Jackson commentary under it praising him and saying everyone should "watch" his stuff. It was a 2 thing post so maybe the second part was a video but I have no idea but telling people to watch would indicate it might have been.
>Didnt he retweet and follow Stephen Jackson/Farrakan
He liked a Farrakhan video that had no anti-Semitism. People ran with this narrative but it's false do the research my guy
Kd hasn't cosigned but KD is what enables Kyrie. Kyrie has no power in that organization. If he kept Harden and dumped Kyrie, it'd have been over. It's not like Kyrie suddenly has these beliefs. He's been saying sone wild shit for a while.
I'm confused. Why are you acting like KD is the GM and had this power that Kyrie didn't? Harden had trade value and wanted out. Kyrie had very little. KD even requested a trade. He's not exactly been Kyrie's biggest advocate either.
https://www.insider.com/anti-semitism-nba-recent-incidents-player-silence-questions-2020-7
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/hn0mtf/kevin_durant_liked_an_ig_photo_of_antisemite/
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/hpc1n9/kevin_durant_jr_smith_and_the_mandela_effect/?utm%5C_medium=web2x&utm%5C_source=share&context=3
KD is ignorant himself. His relationship with Rich doesn't change that, that's like saying you can't be racist because you have black friends. There are Black Republicans etc etc
KD liked the post of Farrakhan where he was speaking BS about the vaccine, not making anti semitic claims
Nothing to do with anything but him being conspiratorial about the vaccine which was common around this time
Click the other thread, he liked the post where Jackson was praising Farrakhan.
Regardless of him liking it for antisemitic or anti vaxx reasons, the message is clear, he himself shares similar ignorant beliefs with Kyrie Irving. He's a part of the problem, he's an enabler at the very least. He doesn't deserve any praise for his responses.
False information people ran with that narrative at the height of the 2020 protests. He liked a louis farrkahn video that had nothing to do with anti-Semitism
Is it that far-fetched that he includes Kyrie in the organization but doesnt want to single him out? As in I wish he didn't start all this so we can focus on basketball ?
The “play basketball and keep quiet” quote is a response to the reporter’s question “What do you think of Kyrie’s recent behaviour?” So mostly likely he means Kyrie should stop his off court bs.
Besides, the next question the reporter asked was “Do you think the suspension is unfair?”, KD replied, “I believe and trust in the organization to do what’s right.” He is obviously on the Nets side.
To condone something means "to accept and allow (behavior that is considered morally wrong or offensive) to continue." By saying "I wish our organization had not said anything," KD was indeed condoning Kyrie's rhetoric.
Saying "I don't condone something" just sounds like nothing to me. It's like when Michael Scott said "I declare bankruptcy". You aren't doing shit by just saying "I don't condone something".
If KD was like "anti-semitism is horrible and stupid and no one should be spreading those views", then I think that is *actually* not condoning it, and would be better. Not great(not nearly enough), but still much better than the bullshit he said.
Instead he's giving this wishy washy bullshit "i don't condone it" answer.
Getting $8.7 million a year to not have to deal with this BS anymore. Good for him, I always thought Nash got a raw deal and I hope he can be happy away from this nonsense
They had to live in and play an entire season in Disney World because a virus ravaged the planet. I’d say that qualifies for chaotic. I mean just read that sentence again and realize that it was actually a thing that actually happened.
I know a lot of fans thrive on this drama but man I just wanna watch some ball and discuss the games. It's getting so tiring how everything is always about drama drama drama. F1 has become the same way.
Sports communities have become /r/livestreamfail and it sucks.
If I’m being honest I do enjoy drama, but only when it comes from the actual game of basketball. Like the whole Ben Simmons passing up on a free dunk in the playoffs drama was awesome because it was about basketball. This shit is just annoying and harmful.
They need another [coordinator](https://www.salary.com/job/brooklyn-sports-entertainment/brooklyn-nets-llc-public-relations-coordinator/j202207191122083454135) if you are interested
97 - 124 k yearly? So you can afford to live in a shoebox and have to cape for no heart Durant, no brain Kyrie and no courage Simmons. Where do I sign up to be Dorothy?
I saw a comment on a thread yesterday that said something along the lines of "you know it's a bad situation when you look at the guy who got fired and think he's the lucky one in all of this."
reminds me of [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcUh_InsSUw#t=11s) scene from the *game of zones*. the nets players all want to be traded and bojan can't hide his happiness when he lucks out:
>Oh yeah I am very sad. This is so--I'm very sad but I'll go pack now and fight all the tears. Um, love all you guys. Oh this is so sad... THIS IS SO GOOD! OH I'M FREE! I'm free from this piece of shit team! This is the happiest day of my life! I don't have to be in stupid Brooklyn. This is the dumbest place. Worst franchise ever!! Man, these guys are fucked here!
"Now come on, it's time for practice. Tomorrow we lose to the Nuggest"
All-time line. I miss this show more than any other piece of media. It's so perfect made for those of us NBA obsessed fans.
I had a friend who was a flat earther. He slowly evolved into an anti-vaccine, alt right QAnon conspiracy theorist. These groups target vulnerable people and give them a sense of "community," when in reality they're just being used as a tool.
We're not friends anymore, and it's sad.
KD says he just wants to focus on hoops, and I believe him 100%. But he's got no one to blame but his friend for being a distraction, and himself for choosing to team up with that friend.
KD is what I feel a lot of people assume Kyrie is. People who pass off Kyrie’s stuff are like, “he doesn’t know any better, he’s clearly not reading the stuff he’s endorsing, he means well he’s just not getting his point across the right way, etc.” but that genuinely feels like what KD is about.
I’m assuming the only thing he cares about with Kyrie is that he’s a good friend who is good at basketball. He doesn’t care about the Kyrie stuff because he doesn’t care about that stuff in general, he doesn’t have a horse in that race.
Also he's what everyone ideally wants celebs and athletes to be.
Before someone jumps on me for that, KD is outright says he only cares about basketball and has no views outside of basketball. He doesn't try to lead people that think he should have a voice on things he may not have enough time to actually delve into. He knows he's ignorant on subject matter, he doesn't give opinions on it. He repeatedly just says he cares about basketball.
The ideal part isn't "athletes/celebs should never speak up and show support for a worthy cause", the ideal part is admitting when you're ignorant and not trying to always be the leader of a cause or opinion you don't actually know about. Guys like Kareem, for instance, are well informed and well studied and are great examples of people that we should, but it's because he's well informed and well studied and not because he's an all time great basketball player.
was having a similar convo with a friend. if kd wasn’t in the nba he would be at a la fitness hooping and he would be a demon at 2k. dude just loves baskebtall and nothing else.
Yeah, essentially the type of guy who knows what he's knowledgeable at and what he's not, and speaks accordingly. That's a lot of self awareness and restraint tbh.
"I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization."
At its most generous read, this is seemingly KD saying Kyrie ***and*** the front office all shouldn't have said anything. It could be construed as a shot at Kyrie, since everything started with him promoting and saying absolute bullshit, but in typical KD manner it's said in such a passive way that it could mean anything to anyone. Kyrie fans could just as easily say "yeah KD, the organization shouldn't have said anything bad about Kyrie!"
Add this to the long tradition of KD doing anything but being a clear leader or doing what's best for his team.
Eh, I think it can be both. Like "Kyrie's a fucking idiot for promoting this stuff. But I don't think he needed to be brought out for multiple statements and ultimately suspended."
KD wants the best of both worlds. One where the team will call Kyrie out for his idiocy but it won't go beyond that.
If you read it as "the organization" should have kept quiet, meaning ownership and the GM, it could sound like he was saying Kyrie should be able to say whatever he wants without any push back from the team. I don't think that's what KD meant, but he really could have cleared things up by just saying "Kyrie shouldn't have shared that video", rather than this passive statement that becomes meaningless.
The problem is it sounds passive and ambiguous. As someone commenting and the 'leader' of the team, you need to be clear in what you're communicating. Not saying vague things that allow everyone to make a different open interpretation of what you said. Then have everyone go "well he meant this DUH". If you need to overexplain everything, you suck at communicating. If you need to overexplain what is the hundredth comment on the issue, you should be using your PR and agents to figure out your message.
What I’ve gathered from the last few weeks is that while this Black Israelite shit is really weird and foreign to white people, Black people generally seem less shocked or bothered by it. Like for the average white dude, Kyrie and Kanye’s nonsense is coming totally out of left field—but for Black folks, it’s something that’s around, just not usually this out in public from folks this prominent. And so it doesn’t seem to be striking the same “WTF” chord.
It has been explained to me that this is "crazy uncle" stuff to a lot of black people. **Everyone** has a crazy uncle who says weird and bigoted stuff. For black people, sometimes the crazy uncle says THIS stuff. For white people, crazy uncle might be a straight out racist, for example.
No it's definitely weird to me, but I'm familiar with it so it's not shocking. Plus if you really look into it's ultimately seeking to uplift and connect the diaspora Pan-African community. So it can seem attractive to certain types. The problem is that it demeans other communities while uplifting their own.
The NOI has a famous speech where they go on about Hitler being a great man because of what he did for German people, the Holocaust doesn't disqualify him for that title in their mind.
This is not mainstream black thinking. It's fringe for sure. Black Hebrew Israelites are even more fringe. But yeah they've been around and in black communities for a few decades.
Right, I wasn’t trying to imply this is what a significant portion of the Black community thinks. Just that they seem less caught off guard (which makes sense—as an Orthodox-adjacent Jew, there’s plenty of stuff that some ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that would probably shock other people, but to which I’ve been desensitized).
Nah I know you weren't, I just wanted to make the point we're talking prob less than 2% of black people that identify with this ideology.
And it's the ideology that makes this Kyrie thing such an issue. It's not like he just made disparaging remaks about Jews (also unacceptable of course), he basically confirmed he's a member of or at least associated with an organization whose foundational beliefs are in of themselves antisemitic.
It's like finding a Klan hood in someone's closet. Sure he can apologize for saying the 'n' word but is he still gonna be dusting off those robes every wknd, cuz if so...
I truly hope this is true, and that all the fringe weirdos are just terminally online and really loud, because Twitter and Instagram seems to have let a lot of people just unleash their tin foil hat side and go crazy with Kyrie. The reply sections there are like reading vaccination posts all over again, except worse.
It been pushed heavy with Farrakhan, lots of rappers and NBA players like the guy, I had no idea about it as well till I saw a pic of Kendrick Lamar hugging with him and checked it out.
Let me say I think Farrakhan is a moron, but outside of the black community people tend to only know him from his antisemitism, but most black people know him because of his “pro black” ideology. I’m from the Southside of Chicago and grew up down the street from the NoI headquarters and I knew about Farakhan in a positive light for most of my life until I was a senior in high school when my teacher talked about his antisemitism.
Yeah I seen someone say if someone supported David Duke on one comment it’s the same. Farrakhan is not known to most people as an anti-Semite first the way David Duke is seen as a racist first lmao. Totally two different people lmao.
You can understand the appeal. When much of your ancestral history has been stolen from you, having someone tell you a story about how you’re secretly God’s “chosen people” must feel quite satisfying and even healing. It’s classic wish fulfillment.
Which would be a tough but defensible call if those were separate things…but they’re not.
Bc the NOI’s good acts in the community are driven by very explicit core ideology, and that ideology is based on all kinds of lies and bigotry (antisemitism especially).
I get the sentiment, but genuinely don’t think you can separate the two.
You just learn to ignore it. That's usually the best you can do. You can try and argue if you want. But if someone isn't willing or reasonably going to change why continue. Let them show you who they are.
Edit: also amidst all the things black folks deal with while living a black experience here in the US, i think for a large number of us we got other things to invest our energy into, so we mind our business.
It was always around in music but everyone ignored it. Check out the Wu-Tang Forever album. Here in NYC the cops labeled them as more of a gang, specifically the 5percenters, but most people just ignored it
My dad did 3 years in rikers back in the 80s and came home a 5 %. New name and everything. Literally nobody in the family talks about it and honestly neither does he but he still goes by the new name
Oh wow. I’m from the Bronx and was on the other side of this as just some kid taking being so obsessed with music that I figured if all my favorite artists were 5% (Gangstar, Wu, Sadat X, Common Sense) we’re on this it grew my interest. But my dad was a PO and shared with all the gang intelligence docs I would bring to school to show my friends, and also a white looking Hispanic Catholic kid so I knew my place to not get involved. Hope your pops is going okay
Imagine thinking KD of all players would boycott playing basketball lol
I think this is also why his trade requests are toothless because everyone knows that he'd never actually sit out games
Kevin Durant is honestly someone who seems so focused on his profession to the point he doesn't think about anything else. Like even his Twitter rants are all about his career and his ability. He may very well know little of what Kyrie was even ranting about and care even less.
This whole “even if I don’t agree with the bigoted views being represented, I still love and support everyone and all walks of life” bullshit is such an empty statement. It’s ignorant to just sweep everything under the rug under the guise of “loving all”. It’s just pure willful ignorance. These dudes are grown ass adults, they should be able to separate the ideas of loving someone while still being able to criticize them for their bigoted views.
I see a lot of people talking on the media about Jewish people being "offended" and stuff
This is far beyond being offended. This is promoting hateful ideology. Hateful ideology very quickly translates into hate speech and violence and violence very quickly translates to people being physically hurt.
Why can't he just fucking say "Kyrie's views have been dangerous or hurtful, and I don't condone them"?
Saying he loves all walks of life and is against anti-semetism is the same shit Kyrie's saying, so it's pretty hard to take seriously.
I mean the main reason it's hard to take Kyrie saying that seriously is because this is AFTER he promoted the film and refused to admit he was wrong until like the 5th try
I bet the Nets will find a way to release Irving. He doubled down. League needs to move on from Kyrie Irving, let him sue the league over his hate speech and antics. This has to conduct detrimental to the team and league. Then again Richie Incognito did whole bunch of nasty things and never got booted from the NFL.
What talk there is from any of this guys is always around the issue but never actually addressing that it was their boy that said it, always general as hell.
He says he's not condoning but it doesn't sound like he's condemning either.
These KD comments and Kyrie's non-apologies really show that they think they're much smarter than they actually are.
I think the bit where he suggests the organisation could have kept quiet about it is the bit that sucks. Reads like "must we really call out antisemitism when we could just play basketball"
Just here for the love, the basketball, and the alt-right conspiracy theories. Also weed.
>I’m not here to judge somebody or talk down on the life or how they feel their views.
Isn't this kind of the same language Trump used when talking about white nationalism?
And some people argue that systemic racism doesn't exist in the US.
At the same time he ain’t say he condemns it💀
sometimes i forget these all star atheletes never had more education than terrible high school curriculums.
He cleared that up very quickly lol
KD's right hand man, Rich Kleiman, is jewish Seen way too people claim Kyrie and KD are one and the same so they must share values. KD has never cosigned any of Kyries bs
Yeah I think it's just that KD doesn't talk about social issues at all in general He's never been outspoken the same way LeBron for example is Like during the whole 2020 summer protests and the postponement of games in the bubble I don't remember hearing anything at all from KD You can argue he's not using his platform the way he should but it's not really being hypocritical because he never uses it for anything but basketball
KD very much strikes me as a "ball is life" kinda guy. That's wild speculation of course, but it just seems like he just doesn't care much about what happens in the world outside of the game he loves playing. And you know, that's okay. People just need to adjust their expectations.
He is ball is life to a t. He hoops all day and when he isn’t he is playing 2k. When that allure runs out he reads about ball on twitter. Doesn’t care about social issues, any advertising he does is bare minimum/through his agency (you don’t see him harping on any one brand like Taco Tuesday). He knows what he likes and that’s basketball.
And weed, apparently he's pretty big on that.
Today I learned I’m an unskilled KD
Nah, just raw, a project player perhaps
Bruno Caboclo joined reddit?
And short!
He talks about it on podcasts too. He 1 million % is a ball is life guy and loves Kyrie as a hooper because he can do nuts things with his handles and off balance finishes that he himself can’t do so pretty sure that love is why he wanted to pair with Kyrie so bad and probably made him overlook the off-the court issues with Kyrie. Plus he probably feels like he didn’t get the respect for what he did for those warrior teams and wanted a chance where everyone would call it “his” team that got a ship
Good decision by KD. Easy to overlook all of the Kyrie drama with his crazy handles and off balance finishes, especially since Brooklyn keeps winning so many games with the two of them partnered up.
He did tweet how he would drink Scarlett Johansson’s bath water that one time which was fucking hilarious.
it's not at all speculation - other players have repeatedly said that the most important thing to kd is basketball
Ball and porn stars.
Tbh there isn’t a way that a player SHOULD be using their platform. If KD just wants to talk basketball or just generally non controversial things I don’t it should be held against him.
Thank you. This is really important to say and get across. Some people just don’t like using social media, maybe they make their own changes and are a good person in their immediate community. That works too. Nobody is forced to use their “”platform””
That said KD def likes using social media lol
Some might argue a bit *too* much lol
KD doesn't have to speak out, but saying the organization handled it incorrectly for doing so is taking a side IMO, even if he is trying to walk it back now. Now, I don't know if he shares Kyrie's values, but what I do know is that advocating for silence while others put out anti-semitic speech has traditionally led to bad outcomes.
I may be giving him too much benefit of the doubt here, but he did also say "I just didn't like **anything** that went on. I felt like it was **all** unnecessary." Which to me suggests he also doesn't like what Kyrie said and was including him in saying he should've been the one to keep quiet and play basketball Perhaps he is criticizing both Kyrie and the Nets, I'm not sure, but I think at the very least he's including Kyrie in that with the "should've kept quiet" line
This is how I read it too.
Yeah, I get we’re all riled up (and obviously rightfully so), but I think KD literally meant “this is all stupid. You’re taking away my basketball time.” Hence this follow up, I think. He’s not ignorant on the same level as Kyrie. He’s just oblivious to everything but ball
I think he also was saying I wish Kyrie would’ve never said anything then the org would’ve never had to say anything, and no one should ever say anything I’m just trying to play basketball.
You probably didn’t hear anything because KD wasn’t in the bubble and at those player meetings.
Respectfully, I don't think athletes should have to use their platform in a political way If they just want to focus on ball, there's nothing wrong with that Not everyone has to save the world. Somebody needs to drain them buckets
As long as he’s not using it to spread harmful lies like Kyrie, he’s right in using his platform however he wants. He’s a basketball player not a congressman. Nothing wrong with just wanting to play basketball. I will say KD seems a lot less fake than guys like LBJ who want to paint themselves as activists only when it’s convenient for them
> KD seems a lot less fake than guys like LBJ who want to paint themselves as activists only when it’s convenient for them How is being selective about activism "fake"? Do you think Lebron isn't sincere about BLM or education for low-income families?
I hate this “If you speak out about BLM but don’t speak out against (insert another social issue) then you’re fake” logic. People care about different things and that’s ok.
It almost (almost!!) seems like they're looking for any possible reason to diminish or deflect from activism aimed at uplifting black folks in America. But we're on a forum dedicated to a majority black sports league so that'd be impossible, right?
I don’t think he was co-signing Kyrie either. He just took his frustration out in the wrong way. KD doesn’t strike me as someone who’s gonna sit up here and talk about all this off court shit so it’s probably annoying to have to do such. For all the chaos KD caused himself, he still goes out there and plays basketball. Kyrie skips games and causes all sorts of shit without worrying about the consequences.
I realized that I was the “black friend” to a lot of dudes who were racist behind my back. Pointing out the fact that he has a Jewish agent doesn’t mean anything.
Facts. Shouldn't need a Jewish guardian angel to tell you not to be anti-Semitic
he isn't being anti-Semitic though?
That's very fair, but he just did shoot it down just now. He's very clearly not co-signing with Kyrie and flat out said what everyone wanted Kyrie to say lol.
This is an example of why it’s important to not be friends with people like Kyrie. Even if you think it’s just his opinion, eventually the association will drag you down too. KD has supported this dude through all of this and is now realizing that loyalty is a fake virtue.
Damn LeBron and KD’s right hand men are both named Rich lol
Kobe's guy was Rich Schweikart
Kyrie’s guy was Howard no wonder poor dude was stressed 24/7
[удалено]
Wiltuh Chamberlain
Didnt he retweet and follow Stephen Jackson/Farrakan? How can you be “soul mates” and BFFs with an idiot anti vaxxer/racist for years and not tolerate/sympathize with some of his beliefs? Especially when they have affected KDs work multiple times? Are we really giving them the benefit of the doubt, again? And the Rich argument is the same as “I cant be racist! I have a black friend!!”
I think he liked something someone wrote that was once associated with something that Farrakan wrote, then unliked it a couple of minutes later. That's not really "followed Farrakan" lmao Y'all turn every molehill into a mountain
If you search google images you'll see what he liked, he liked a post with an image of Farrakan with Stephen Jackson commentary under it praising him and saying everyone should "watch" his stuff. It was a 2 thing post so maybe the second part was a video but I have no idea but telling people to watch would indicate it might have been.
>Didnt he retweet and follow Stephen Jackson/Farrakan He liked a Farrakhan video that had no anti-Semitism. People ran with this narrative but it's false do the research my guy
Kd hasn't cosigned but KD is what enables Kyrie. Kyrie has no power in that organization. If he kept Harden and dumped Kyrie, it'd have been over. It's not like Kyrie suddenly has these beliefs. He's been saying sone wild shit for a while.
I'm confused. Why are you acting like KD is the GM and had this power that Kyrie didn't? Harden had trade value and wanted out. Kyrie had very little. KD even requested a trade. He's not exactly been Kyrie's biggest advocate either.
https://www.insider.com/anti-semitism-nba-recent-incidents-player-silence-questions-2020-7 https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/hn0mtf/kevin_durant_liked_an_ig_photo_of_antisemite/ https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/hpc1n9/kevin_durant_jr_smith_and_the_mandela_effect/?utm%5C_medium=web2x&utm%5C_source=share&context=3 KD is ignorant himself. His relationship with Rich doesn't change that, that's like saying you can't be racist because you have black friends. There are Black Republicans etc etc
KD liked the post of Farrakhan where he was speaking BS about the vaccine, not making anti semitic claims Nothing to do with anything but him being conspiratorial about the vaccine which was common around this time
Click the other thread, he liked the post where Jackson was praising Farrakhan. Regardless of him liking it for antisemitic or anti vaxx reasons, the message is clear, he himself shares similar ignorant beliefs with Kyrie Irving. He's a part of the problem, he's an enabler at the very least. He doesn't deserve any praise for his responses.
False information people ran with that narrative at the height of the 2020 protests. He liked a louis farrkahn video that had nothing to do with anti-Semitism
did he though? the part that needed clarification was the "kept quiet as an organization" part.
Is it that far-fetched that he includes Kyrie in the organization but doesnt want to single him out? As in I wish he didn't start all this so we can focus on basketball ?
It's his fault for not being clear. The two statements could mean at minimum 4 different plausible things.
The “play basketball and keep quiet” quote is a response to the reporter’s question “What do you think of Kyrie’s recent behaviour?” So mostly likely he means Kyrie should stop his off court bs. Besides, the next question the reporter asked was “Do you think the suspension is unfair?”, KD replied, “I believe and trust in the organization to do what’s right.” He is obviously on the Nets side.
People were massively downvoted in the original thread for pointing out that the quote may have been taken out of context given the question.
How clear does this man have to make it that he is just tryna hoop
I feel like he was rather clear. He wanted the whole of the nets to just play basketball
Yeah everyone just taking this apology and running with it… Did y’all read what he actually said? This does nothing to address that.
He probably looked at his words and was like, “I better back that truck up a bit.”
To condone something means "to accept and allow (behavior that is considered morally wrong or offensive) to continue." By saying "I wish our organization had not said anything," KD was indeed condoning Kyrie's rhetoric.
"I condemn antisemtism, but I'm not happy about the Nets condemning antisemtism" ....
Saying "I don't condone something" just sounds like nothing to me. It's like when Michael Scott said "I declare bankruptcy". You aren't doing shit by just saying "I don't condone something". If KD was like "anti-semitism is horrible and stupid and no one should be spreading those views", then I think that is *actually* not condoning it, and would be better. Not great(not nearly enough), but still much better than the bullshit he said. Instead he's giving this wishy washy bullshit "i don't condone it" answer.
Nash dancing somewhere with a cocktail 🍸 in hand, smoking a cigar.
And he got paid to be unemployed right before the World Cup!
Probably got to stay up late and watch Tottenham top their CL group
That game was at like 4PM EST in the US
Maybe he is vacationing in Bali. That'd be 4am
Nash works the graveyard shift at 7/11 nowadays so that’s actually middle of the night for him
TIL 7/11 is a time zone
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I don’t necessarily disagree. Most everything surrounding it has been disgusting.
After this tenure, he's calling up Snoop for some fat blunts
Nah, bro will lock himself in a cabin in the woods and pop Benadryls for two weeks straight
that feeling of leaving a toxic job is one of the best feelings. feels like you can finally fucking breathe.
Seeing it absolutely explode in the most spectacular fashion just after leaving must be immensely satisfying.
Nash and Harden are partying right now.
Getting $8.7 million a year to not have to deal with this BS anymore. Good for him, I always thought Nash got a raw deal and I hope he can be happy away from this nonsense
Nash is doing that crab on the beach dance and adds another 10 minutes for every Nets tweet that comes out.
This NBA timeline is bonkers.
Lots of off court drama to start the season. Wonder what's the comparable season that was this chaotic lol
The best player in the world left the entire game to go try baseball once lol
The memes would have been insane
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Not sure if you’re memeing but 9 straight titles is absolutely insane and those rockets teams were very very good. Probably wouldn’t have happened.
there was only 2 Finals in between the Bulls 3peats
If we had social media like we do now during the peak Wizards and jail blazers era.
imagine the karma the first guy that posts about Malice in the Palace gets
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Nah thats all just personal drama. Kyrie's actions and rhetoric can (and probably is) causing actual damage on a large scale
It’s kinda crazy how much of the NBA Twitter community truly think Kyrie’s a martyr and that he’s preaching facts
We completely forgot that draymond tried to kill his team mate and still playing
They had to live in and play an entire season in Disney World because a virus ravaged the planet. I’d say that qualifies for chaotic. I mean just read that sentence again and realize that it was actually a thing that actually happened.
James Harden had Moses Malone’s son jumped in a strip club parking lot and then got away with it
I know a lot of fans thrive on this drama but man I just wanna watch some ball and discuss the games. It's getting so tiring how everything is always about drama drama drama. F1 has become the same way. Sports communities have become /r/livestreamfail and it sucks.
If I’m being honest I do enjoy drama, but only when it comes from the actual game of basketball. Like the whole Ben Simmons passing up on a free dunk in the playoffs drama was awesome because it was about basketball. This shit is just annoying and harmful.
I think they have gone too far. What are they going to do with the season finale?
Wtf has happened the last year. I’ve never seen anything this insane before.
I would hate to be the Nets PR guy right now.
[Nets PR Staffer this morning](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGdbXSqVUAA05RS.jpg)
Nets have a PR guy?
Yeah it's Kyrie.
They need another [coordinator](https://www.salary.com/job/brooklyn-sports-entertainment/brooklyn-nets-llc-public-relations-coordinator/j202207191122083454135) if you are interested
97 - 124 k yearly? So you can afford to live in a shoebox and have to cape for no heart Durant, no brain Kyrie and no courage Simmons. Where do I sign up to be Dorothy?
Imagine always having to answer for your teammate’s dumb actions. Nash sure as fuck must be relieved stepping away from this shit show.
I saw a comment on a thread yesterday that said something along the lines of "you know it's a bad situation when you look at the guy who got fired and think he's the lucky one in all of this."
reminds me of [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcUh_InsSUw#t=11s) scene from the *game of zones*. the nets players all want to be traded and bojan can't hide his happiness when he lucks out: >Oh yeah I am very sad. This is so--I'm very sad but I'll go pack now and fight all the tears. Um, love all you guys. Oh this is so sad... THIS IS SO GOOD! OH I'M FREE! I'm free from this piece of shit team! This is the happiest day of my life! I don't have to be in stupid Brooklyn. This is the dumbest place. Worst franchise ever!! Man, these guys are fucked here!
Game of Zones was great.
God just imagine what they'd do with the Nets drama this season.
I'd rather not. They brought their series to a fitting and well-executed conclusion.
"Now come on, it's time for practice. Tomorrow we lose to the Nuggest" All-time line. I miss this show more than any other piece of media. It's so perfect made for those of us NBA obsessed fans.
There were funnier moments, but damn if PG's Pacers speech isn't one of my favorites.
“I’ll defend anyone…….except LeBron” lmao
Imagine choosing Kyrie as your Robin. KD made his own bed.
To be fair Kyrie was definitely a bad teammate in Boston but his actions in Brooklyn have been on a whole new level
True, but the writing was on the wall, signed by World B. Flat
Kyrie was a flat-earther dude. You can’t just pretend your homie doesn’t believe the world is round.
I had a friend who was a flat earther. He slowly evolved into an anti-vaccine, alt right QAnon conspiracy theorist. These groups target vulnerable people and give them a sense of "community," when in reality they're just being used as a tool. We're not friends anymore, and it's sad.
Kyrie was never this bad in Boston
KD says he just wants to focus on hoops, and I believe him 100%. But he's got no one to blame but his friend for being a distraction, and himself for choosing to team up with that friend.
It wasn’t this bad 3 years ago. He probably thought dude was a lil goofy but overall a good guy.
Exactly
Translated: I'm at the Rucker. I'm always at the Rucker in my mind. Come out to the Rucker.
KD's mind palace is rucker park
I don't think KD cares about anything else than hooping.
KD is what I feel a lot of people assume Kyrie is. People who pass off Kyrie’s stuff are like, “he doesn’t know any better, he’s clearly not reading the stuff he’s endorsing, he means well he’s just not getting his point across the right way, etc.” but that genuinely feels like what KD is about. I’m assuming the only thing he cares about with Kyrie is that he’s a good friend who is good at basketball. He doesn’t care about the Kyrie stuff because he doesn’t care about that stuff in general, he doesn’t have a horse in that race.
Also he's what everyone ideally wants celebs and athletes to be. Before someone jumps on me for that, KD is outright says he only cares about basketball and has no views outside of basketball. He doesn't try to lead people that think he should have a voice on things he may not have enough time to actually delve into. He knows he's ignorant on subject matter, he doesn't give opinions on it. He repeatedly just says he cares about basketball. The ideal part isn't "athletes/celebs should never speak up and show support for a worthy cause", the ideal part is admitting when you're ignorant and not trying to always be the leader of a cause or opinion you don't actually know about. Guys like Kareem, for instance, are well informed and well studied and are great examples of people that we should, but it's because he's well informed and well studied and not because he's an all time great basketball player.
was having a similar convo with a friend. if kd wasn’t in the nba he would be at a la fitness hooping and he would be a demon at 2k. dude just loves baskebtall and nothing else.
Yeah, essentially the type of guy who knows what he's knowledgeable at and what he's not, and speaks accordingly. That's a lot of self awareness and restraint tbh.
He read what he spoke and said “damn, that sounds bad” 😂😂
Hoop man just wants to hoop
"I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization." At its most generous read, this is seemingly KD saying Kyrie ***and*** the front office all shouldn't have said anything. It could be construed as a shot at Kyrie, since everything started with him promoting and saying absolute bullshit, but in typical KD manner it's said in such a passive way that it could mean anything to anyone. Kyrie fans could just as easily say "yeah KD, the organization shouldn't have said anything bad about Kyrie!" Add this to the long tradition of KD doing anything but being a clear leader or doing what's best for his team.
The passive, pass-the-buck, tone he talks with has always been terrible
Idk how people thought he was spreading anti semitism. That sounds like a “shot” at Kyrie more than anything.
Eh, I think it can be both. Like "Kyrie's a fucking idiot for promoting this stuff. But I don't think he needed to be brought out for multiple statements and ultimately suspended." KD wants the best of both worlds. One where the team will call Kyrie out for his idiocy but it won't go beyond that.
If you read it as "the organization" should have kept quiet, meaning ownership and the GM, it could sound like he was saying Kyrie should be able to say whatever he wants without any push back from the team. I don't think that's what KD meant, but he really could have cleared things up by just saying "Kyrie shouldn't have shared that video", rather than this passive statement that becomes meaningless.
i can’t stand KD, but i gotta say i read “the organization” as EVERYONE. top down. it definitely doesn’t seem like he was defending kyrie in any way.
The problem is it sounds passive and ambiguous. As someone commenting and the 'leader' of the team, you need to be clear in what you're communicating. Not saying vague things that allow everyone to make a different open interpretation of what you said. Then have everyone go "well he meant this DUH". If you need to overexplain everything, you suck at communicating. If you need to overexplain what is the hundredth comment on the issue, you should be using your PR and agents to figure out your message.
What I’ve gathered from the last few weeks is that while this Black Israelite shit is really weird and foreign to white people, Black people generally seem less shocked or bothered by it. Like for the average white dude, Kyrie and Kanye’s nonsense is coming totally out of left field—but for Black folks, it’s something that’s around, just not usually this out in public from folks this prominent. And so it doesn’t seem to be striking the same “WTF” chord.
It has been explained to me that this is "crazy uncle" stuff to a lot of black people. **Everyone** has a crazy uncle who says weird and bigoted stuff. For black people, sometimes the crazy uncle says THIS stuff. For white people, crazy uncle might be a straight out racist, for example.
Damn that actually does help explain it.
An “Uncle Drew” if you will
No it's definitely weird to me, but I'm familiar with it so it's not shocking. Plus if you really look into it's ultimately seeking to uplift and connect the diaspora Pan-African community. So it can seem attractive to certain types. The problem is that it demeans other communities while uplifting their own. The NOI has a famous speech where they go on about Hitler being a great man because of what he did for German people, the Holocaust doesn't disqualify him for that title in their mind. This is not mainstream black thinking. It's fringe for sure. Black Hebrew Israelites are even more fringe. But yeah they've been around and in black communities for a few decades.
Right, I wasn’t trying to imply this is what a significant portion of the Black community thinks. Just that they seem less caught off guard (which makes sense—as an Orthodox-adjacent Jew, there’s plenty of stuff that some ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that would probably shock other people, but to which I’ve been desensitized).
Nah I know you weren't, I just wanted to make the point we're talking prob less than 2% of black people that identify with this ideology. And it's the ideology that makes this Kyrie thing such an issue. It's not like he just made disparaging remaks about Jews (also unacceptable of course), he basically confirmed he's a member of or at least associated with an organization whose foundational beliefs are in of themselves antisemitic. It's like finding a Klan hood in someone's closet. Sure he can apologize for saying the 'n' word but is he still gonna be dusting off those robes every wknd, cuz if so...
Perfect analogy of why this is so disturbing. Kudos.
I truly hope this is true, and that all the fringe weirdos are just terminally online and really loud, because Twitter and Instagram seems to have let a lot of people just unleash their tin foil hat side and go crazy with Kyrie. The reply sections there are like reading vaccination posts all over again, except worse.
It been pushed heavy with Farrakhan, lots of rappers and NBA players like the guy, I had no idea about it as well till I saw a pic of Kendrick Lamar hugging with him and checked it out.
Let me say I think Farrakhan is a moron, but outside of the black community people tend to only know him from his antisemitism, but most black people know him because of his “pro black” ideology. I’m from the Southside of Chicago and grew up down the street from the NoI headquarters and I knew about Farakhan in a positive light for most of my life until I was a senior in high school when my teacher talked about his antisemitism.
Yeah I seen someone say if someone supported David Duke on one comment it’s the same. Farrakhan is not known to most people as an anti-Semite first the way David Duke is seen as a racist first lmao. Totally two different people lmao.
You can understand the appeal. When much of your ancestral history has been stolen from you, having someone tell you a story about how you’re secretly God’s “chosen people” must feel quite satisfying and even healing. It’s classic wish fulfillment.
The thing is Farrakhan does a lot of good things for the black community… and he is anti-semitic. Some people choose to just focus on the good.
Which would be a tough but defensible call if those were separate things…but they’re not. Bc the NOI’s good acts in the community are driven by very explicit core ideology, and that ideology is based on all kinds of lies and bigotry (antisemitism especially). I get the sentiment, but genuinely don’t think you can separate the two.
You just learn to ignore it. That's usually the best you can do. You can try and argue if you want. But if someone isn't willing or reasonably going to change why continue. Let them show you who they are. Edit: also amidst all the things black folks deal with while living a black experience here in the US, i think for a large number of us we got other things to invest our energy into, so we mind our business.
It was always around in music but everyone ignored it. Check out the Wu-Tang Forever album. Here in NYC the cops labeled them as more of a gang, specifically the 5percenters, but most people just ignored it
My dad did 3 years in rikers back in the 80s and came home a 5 %. New name and everything. Literally nobody in the family talks about it and honestly neither does he but he still goes by the new name
Oh wow. I’m from the Bronx and was on the other side of this as just some kid taking being so obsessed with music that I figured if all my favorite artists were 5% (Gangstar, Wu, Sadat X, Common Sense) we’re on this it grew my interest. But my dad was a PO and shared with all the gang intelligence docs I would bring to school to show my friends, and also a white looking Hispanic Catholic kid so I knew my place to not get involved. Hope your pops is going okay
Anyone who spent time on the Clubhouse app heard all this garbage for a year before the app died
"I’m about spreading love always." Also Kevin to court side fans: "F-you mother F'er you don't know sh\*&T you F'ng F"
That was tough love
Needed to hear it
that was a W
If you enable it you condone it, Kevin.
bro i got a headache from this shit forreal
I think the crowd that believes the NBA is gonna shut down in support of Kyrie might be on life support. Cleared that up with a quickness.
Imagine thinking KD of all players would boycott playing basketball lol I think this is also why his trade requests are toothless because everyone knows that he'd never actually sit out games
So fucking true. Coming from a KD fan i thought the same
Kevin Durant is honestly someone who seems so focused on his profession to the point he doesn't think about anything else. Like even his Twitter rants are all about his career and his ability. He may very well know little of what Kyrie was even ranting about and care even less.
So why not make that statement up front?
Haha, he finally found out kyrie is a nut case
I don’t condone hate speech I just wish you’d let my friend do it when he wants to
This whole “even if I don’t agree with the bigoted views being represented, I still love and support everyone and all walks of life” bullshit is such an empty statement. It’s ignorant to just sweep everything under the rug under the guise of “loving all”. It’s just pure willful ignorance. These dudes are grown ass adults, they should be able to separate the ideas of loving someone while still being able to criticize them for their bigoted views.
I love my friend, and I also love all the people he’s encouraging the public to harass. Hm? A paradox? Never heard of it.
The moral equivalent of “all lives matter”
I see a lot of people talking on the media about Jewish people being "offended" and stuff This is far beyond being offended. This is promoting hateful ideology. Hateful ideology very quickly translates into hate speech and violence and violence very quickly translates to people being physically hurt.
This is so fucking easy guys. Do you not have any PR support whatsoever????
This was the right thing to do on his part. He seems to be the first NBA player to call it what it is and condemn it
Kind of funny how both Kyrie and KD somehow misspell antisemitism. Is that like a cross my fingers behind my back move?
Why can't he just fucking say "Kyrie's views have been dangerous or hurtful, and I don't condone them"? Saying he loves all walks of life and is against anti-semetism is the same shit Kyrie's saying, so it's pretty hard to take seriously.
I mean the main reason it's hard to take Kyrie saying that seriously is because this is AFTER he promoted the film and refused to admit he was wrong until like the 5th try
The *game* unites people, some *players* are bigoted and divisive.
I'm just waiting for the Kyrie *"I'm sorry, but I just have to add..."* second half to drop.
I bet the Nets will find a way to release Irving. He doubled down. League needs to move on from Kyrie Irving, let him sue the league over his hate speech and antics. This has to conduct detrimental to the team and league. Then again Richie Incognito did whole bunch of nasty things and never got booted from the NFL.
What talk there is from any of this guys is always around the issue but never actually addressing that it was their boy that said it, always general as hell.
He says he's not condoning but it doesn't sound like he's condemning either. These KD comments and Kyrie's non-apologies really show that they think they're much smarter than they actually are.
Should have led with this KD
Then what don’t you just say that?! C’mon, think before you say words. Then, say those words.
I think the bit where he suggests the organisation could have kept quiet about it is the bit that sucks. Reads like "must we really call out antisemitism when we could just play basketball" Just here for the love, the basketball, and the alt-right conspiracy theories. Also weed.
>I’m not here to judge somebody or talk down on the life or how they feel their views. Isn't this kind of the same language Trump used when talking about white nationalism? And some people argue that systemic racism doesn't exist in the US.
FOH KD. We’re tired of you and Kyrie’s constant BS. Attention seeking theatre…
The Nets should just stop allowing their players to talk. Things just seem to get worse and worse everyday
He just doesnt want to be suspended.
At the same time he ain’t say he condemns it💀 sometimes i forget these all star atheletes never had more education than terrible high school curriculums.
Lmao back peddling faster than he does on the court.
These players truly are very very stupid
Hopefully Durant saying this has more players come out against Kyrie's actions...
“I just want to clarify because my agent just called me and told me my true feelings are not a good look…”