Nets’ Aversion To Transparency Playing Right Into Irving’s Hands
Great job, Nets. You played right into Kyrie Irving’s hands.
The superstar guard, on suspension for promoting hateful and antisemitic content on his social media and then demurring when asked to apologize for it, is actually engendering sympathy on various fronts, an incredible notion considering his conduct.
For those unaware, the tropes espoused in the content are not new—they have been around since biblical times. And when they have gone unchecked, it has led to dead Jews. Adolf Hitler used the same invectives to justify the slaughter of six million people not that long ago—there are plenty of survivors and offspring of victims for whom such content is like re-living the nightmare.
Yet the Nets have handled this affair with all the aplomb of Homer Simpson. Their habit of dialing back transparency has come back to bite them throughout the process. They allowed Irving multiple opportunities to walk back the promotion and its views, and only when he refused to simply apologize did they announce the suspension of “no less than five games,” which would have ended with Saturday’s contest at the Clippers.
However, the statement said the suspension also included conditions of “objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct.” The Athletic’s Shams Charania has been the only reporter who posted the specifics of these conditions, but the Nets have been silent on this matter since, so no one really knows what they are and what remains unfulfilled. The only tidbit was when owner Joseph Tsai told New York Post reporter Brian Lewis during Sunday’s Lakers game that Irving “still has work to do.”
I can understand how that language raised eyebrows amongst Irving’s colleagues around the league. Irving has since posted an honest apology on social media and has met with members of Brooklyn’s organization, including Tsai. Many believe the other alleged conditions, such as being forced to donate money or meet with certain people, appear degrading. Irving’s supporters point to Tsai, whose business dealings as a co-founder of Alibaba Group, the Chinese approximate equivalent to Amazon, aren’t public but may be ripe for further examination. You have to believe that anyone wishing to gain a foothold in Chinese markets has had to play ball with a corrupt Communist dictatorship, which has its own ongoing list of atrocities against minority groups. Tsai is highly regarded for his extensive and generous philanthropy, but has that been enough to atone for his silence on these issues?
Meanwhile, the Nets, who opened the season by going 2-6 and fired Head Coach Steve Nash, won four of the first five games without Irving, playing a different, more team-concept style of basketball on both ends. However, such success was short-lived, and Brooklyn lost its next two outings against a pair of non-playoff teams from a year ago. That included Tuesday’s noncompetitive effort in Sacramento, where the Kings scorched the Nets, 153-121, the most points this franchise has ever surrendered in regulation in its history.
So, how do you think it looked when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who is reputed to be close with Nets General Manager Sean Marks, tweeted on Wednesday night that “Irving is nearing completion on the process needed for a return to play and could rejoin the Brooklyn Nets as soon as Sunday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies”? To me, it screamed, “Um, how much further into a hole do we want to dig ourselves, potentially annoying Kevin Durant in the process, by sticking to our plan?” Again, the Nets have given no response as to the veracity of Woj’s report as of this writing (other than announcing that Irving will be out for Thursday night’s conclusion of their four-game West Coast road trip in Portland), so no one can accuse of them of caving yet.
It's possible that the Nets were trying to bide some time before deciding what to do with their supremely-gifted star. The early wins without him came in handy, but now the organization is under pressure to do something—play him, trade him, or clarify the length of the suspension and face the wrath of the NBA Players Association.
Irving has felt a pinch in the pocket from losing game paychecks due to the suspension and his estimated $11 million per year contract with Nike. His name has been besmirched throughout the nation. Given what has transpired with him in the past, with his January 2021 absence for seven games due to “personal reasons” and then his refusal to be injected with a COVID-19 vaccine in compliance with New York City mandates last season, in his mind, he might think this is a fair price to pay. For Irving has again checked off two familiar boxes in this fiasco: He doesn’t have to play regular season basketball games and, in certain circles, he has become a martyr.
He owes it all to the Nets.