The National Basketball Players Association, the labor union of the NBA players, issued a statement on Tuesday, denouncing antisemitism.
The NBPA has noted that they are “committed to helping players fully understand that certain words can lead to hateful ideologies being spread.” Furthermore, the union also vowed to “continue to work on identifying and combating all hate speech wherever it rises.”
The NBPA has current ties with Kyrie Irving, who drew major flak for sharing a link to a 2018 antisemitic film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” on his Twitter account. The embattled Brooklyn Nets guard currently stands as its Vice President and this response made by NBPA has been awaited by many across the NBA field, though no name was dropped on the press release.
Upon Irving’s promotion of the movie last week, Brooklyn Nets, Joe Tsai, and the NBA released their respective statement condemning antisemitism, but no sanctions were imposed against the All-star guard.
Though he already deleted the post after days of public outcry and clamor, his controversial action continued to linger. During the Nets’ Monday game against the Indiana Pacers, a group of eight people was seen watching courtside within the Barclays Center while wearing “Fight Anti-Semitism” black shirts.
Irving is yet to deliver a statement regarding these occurrences, as he was barred by the Nets to enter the news conference on their eventual win against the Pacers.
