Nike has announced that it will no longer work with NBA star Kyrie Irving, a month following the sports equipment maker suspended its partnership with the Brooklyn Nets point guard for promoting an anti-Semitic film on its social networks. “Kyrie Irving is no longer a (Nike) athlete,” a spokesperson for the brand said.
On October 27, Irving – already known for having relayed conspiracy theories – had published on his Instagram and Twitter accounts the poster of Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America and links to the Amazon site to rent or buy this film containing, among other things, a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler and denying the reality of the Holocaust. He later apologized, saying “not to be anti-Semitic and never to have been.”
“I have no hatred in my heart once morest Jews or anyone who identifies as Jew,” he added in an exclusive interview with SportsNet New York (SNY) on November 19. His Brooklyn Nets club had also sidelined him for at least five games, without receiving a salary.
Eight game suspension
The Nets asked the player to contact the Jewish community to better understand the scope of the messages he posted on social networks. The former Boston Celtics player described these discussions as moving and important, claiming to have learned a lot. “It was not easy, some (discussions) were painful (…) but it gave me a better perspective”, explained the player.
He finally joined the team on November 20 following serving an eight-game suspension. Kyrie Irving opened up regarding her split from Nike on Twitter stating, “Anyone who spent their hard-earned money on one of my products, I consider you family and we are forever bonded.”
He also shared a ‘gif’ which reads: ‘there is nothing more precious than being free’. The 30-year-old Australian-born point guard was a seven-time All-Star, including winning an NBA title in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
