Can Kyrie Irving get suspended over recent Tweet, comments?

Kyrie Irving recently shared a movie on his social media that includes anti-Semitic themes and argued with a reporter over it the next day.

If you’ve missed the latest saga in the book of Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving’s obsession with obscure, fringe beliefs and temperament, here’s a quick summary:

1. Kyrie Irving shared a link to a movie titled Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America. The movie is based on a book of the same name that includes anti-Semitic themes and baselessly claims Jewish people have abused their powers and stripped Black people of their rights as the “true children of God.” The Tweet, which was sent without comment remains up despite the pushback.
2. Nets owner Joe Tsai condemned the Tweet immediately.
3. Irving, pressed about the Tweet by a reporter, accused the reporter of trying to dehumanize him and claimed that merely sharing a movie on his Twitter was not “promoting” it.
4. Irving later claimed he’s an “OMNIST” in a Tweet and said he meant no disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs.

For what it’s worth, Irving sharing the movie could be viewed as a promotion. While sharing does not necessarily equate to promotion, the Merriam-Webster definition has these two definitions for the word “promote”:

• to contribute to the growth or prosperity of
• to help bring (something, such as an enterprise) into being

Sharing a movie on an account with 4.5 million followers can definitely contribute to such misinformation getting greater exposure and traction, thus contributing to the prosperity of such ideas.

It’s undoubtedly a strange situation and one that just adds to the many chapters of Irving’s subscription to fringe, unheralded, and unconfirmed theories and beliefs seemingly only because they are controversial or unrepresented by a majority of people. Previously, Irving was bullishly against getting the Covid vaccine and even sat out a substantial part of last season.

It’s a unique situation, and one that has people wondering… Can Irving actually get suspended for this?

Can Kyrie Irving get suspended for his recent Tweets, comments?

There is a lot of grey area here with the Irving situation. Firstly, the movie he shared was presented without comment. That seems strategic, given his debate with Nick Friedell on Saturday night where he denied that he was “promoting,” the movie. Immediately, this makes the situation far less clear-cut than, for instance, Meyers Leonard using an anti-Semitic slur.

Irving himself has not technically said anything anti-Semitic. We’re getting into the weird territory of potentially suspending someone based on what we think they believe based on body language, tone, etc.

That said, any player can be suspended for, “conduct detrimental to the team.” This clause allows teams to have broad latitude in suspending players for essentially any reason. Obviously, the negative press this has brought the team and the potential for it to disband the locker room, disenfranchise parts of its fanbase, and more, certainly qualifies as conduct detrimental to the team.

So, yes, Irving can be suspended.

Will he be suspended? That remains to be seen. Joe Tsai, Nets owner, has publicly commented against Irving’s sharing of the movie, which would seem to indicate that the team is already considering such options.

We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out and if further pushback or comments from Irving himself come to light.

What is the movie that Kyrie Irving shared?

The movie that Kyrie Irving shared is based on a book of the same name. The movie is directed by the author, Ronald Dalton Jr.

Dalton, in his self-written IMDB biography, claims the book is rooted in Biblical truth and was revealed to him by God himself. Dalton’s bio speaks of no formal education in theology or history.

The book’s thesis is a major diversion from what educated theologians say is actually written in the Bible, that the Hebrews are, “God’s chosen people,” according to the Old Testament. Moreover, the Bible’s New Testament proclaims that everyone who puts their faith in Jesus are children of God. There is no modern exclusivity to such a title based on lineage.