The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) could make advancements should Kyrie Irving remain suspended from the Brooklyn Nets’ team activities.
According to league insider Marc Stein, the NBPA may file grievances if Irving won’t still be activated by the Nets in a definite timetable.
“Word is Irving is itching to get back on the floor and there have been rumbles for days that the National Basketball Players Association, at some stage, could move to file a grievance on Irving’s behalf if the various parties involved can’t reach a resolution on a return timetable.”
This potential action is not surprising given that Jaylen Brown, one of the league union’s vice presidents alongside Irving, has been vocal against the sanction imposed by Brooklyn against the embattled guard.
“I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic,” Brown told The Boston Globe. “I don’t think people in our governing bodies think he’s antisemitic. He made a mistake. We understand from an outside perspective how important sensitivity is to not condone hate speech and not condone anything of that nature. It’s sensitivity to the dialect around that. We don’t want to stand up for somebody in order to not condemn hate speech, but I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic. And hopefully the NBA feels the same way.”
Irving was suspended for at least five games without pay after a controversial reluctance to admit his shortcomings of promoting “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America!” on his Twitter account, a 2018 film that was widely denounced for containing antisemitic tropes.
Irving officially aired his apologies via Instagram. Days after, it was reported that he had a “productive” meeting with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
The suspension mark has already breached through six games, as Irving wasn’t able to play in the Nets’ eventual loss against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. It remains yet to be seen if he’ll miss his seventh-straight game against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. Notably last week, team governor Joe Tsai reiterated that Irving “still has work to do” in order to be reinstated.
For the past six games without Irving, the franchise found a new life after a chaotic beginning, going for a 4-2 record on the given stretch.
