ESSAY: The conundrum that is Kyrie Irving
Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
Kyrie Irving is in the Finals, but his history is bigger than basketball, much bigger. He is all smiles now, joshing with reporters and extolling how Boston helped make him what he is today as one of the leaders of a team on the cusp of an NBA championship which would be his second. As Kyrie Irving has said, this is the best part of his career, one that has already produced a ring with Cleveland, various accolades, and more highlights than one can count.
Most of the narrative about the 32-year-old this week has been about his prodigal return to Boston, which he left as a controversial figure in 2019 for the Brooklyn Nets. His tenure with the Nets has mostly been shunted aside. But should it? Should his non-stop three-and-a-half years of controversy simply be erased from the NBA’s collective memory? The answer is no. This isn’t some hit job, a jealous rage, but a history lesson.
Jared Schwartz of the Post recounted that experience this week, calling the good vibes of Finals week “missing crucial context.”
His actions while he was with the Nets are well-documented. He became a part-time player due to his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine. He became a prominent face of antisemitism when he promoted a movie with abhorrent anti-Jewish sentiment and messaging on his social media accounts. He refused to apologize for it until the Nets suspended him indefinitely, but added that he agreed with points made in the movie, titled “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” Irving later deleted his apology. He shared a video about “secret societies in America of occults” from Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion for lying about the Sandy Hook shooting and suggesting that it was staged. He purposefully stomped and dragged his feet on the Celtics logo at TD Garden, and also gave the middle finger to a Celtics fan.
That, of course, just encapsulates the awfulness that Irving put fans, teammates, coaches, staff and ownership through between the joyous Clean Sweep of June 30, 2019 and the all-too-predictable trade that sent him to Dallas on February 6, 2023. His refusal to get vaccinated, casting his lot with the anti-vaxxers, endorsing an antisemitic video, and dredging up a conspiracy theory from the king of conspiracy theories was, at best, merely exhausting.
The worst of that awfulness was his refusal to get the COVID vaccine despite knowing that if he didn’t he wouldn’t be able to play in New York City. But basketball is only a small part of the whole.
The history of that controversy of course has been written and re-written and will be written again, but it’s still worth reviewing. It should not be shunted aside. It is about sports and society.
Irving’s general skepticism about medication is long and within the Nets organization well-known. He declined to take cortisone injections for a shoulder issue his first year in Brooklyn. And his views of science and expertise in general have at times reached the absurd, most famously with his endorsement of flat earth theories 2017.
But the refusal to take the COVID shot at a time when the country was in a deep national crisis remains the worse. The city of New York — and specifically Brooklyn and Queens — were hard hit early in the pandemic, with hundreds dying weekly in each county. It dropped as the vaccine won favor ... despite the anti-vaxx crowd.
By March of 2022, when Irving made his most extensive comments on his rationale for not taking the shot, claiming his position was about “freedom” and “liberty,” the city’s death toll had reached 40,000, Brooklyn’s nearly 10,000. Yes, New York’s vaccine mandate was the most comprehensive but for the simplest of reasons: No city had been hit as hard.
Worse was that the toll was so much devastating among Black residents of the city. The COVID death toll in New York was four times greater for Black people as it was for white folks. Nationally, it was twice as bad. Health care disparity was one reason, while another was the history of horrific U.S. government experiments on Black people, like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, a history that has justifiably left many Black people more than skeptical about government health programs. Blatant disinformation and conspiracy theories abounded about the disease and the vaccines; health authorities had to deal with those as well.
For those who worked at HSS Training Center at the time, the horror was unavoidable. Day in and day out, unclaimed bodies of the dead were carted from the city’s hospitals in body bags to a parking lot across 39th Street, where hundreds of them were placed in refrigerated trucks, often the next to last stop before they were buried in mass graves on Hart Island in the Bronx. “Right outside my window,” as one Nets staffer who worked through the pandemic put it. That sad parade continued for more than a year.
Irving made no mention of any of that in comments either when he said he wanted to be a “voice of the voiceless” as he did at Nets Media Day in October 2021 or in those March 2022 comments about “freedom” and “liberty.”
The language, of course, amounted code words of the anti-vaccine movement. Irving may have disputed being called an “anti-vaxxer,” but he became a face if not the face of the movement. Indeed more than one commentator suggested that Irving had cast his lot with the anti-vaxxers rather than his own community. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote just that about Irving’s refusal in an essay for Jacobin.
(Irving) continues to reject the expertise of prominent immunologists without reason, contributing to vaccine hesitancy among people in the Black community, who are dying at twice the rate of white people. His lack of regard for Black lives doesn’t deserve acceptance, nor does his lack of regard for the health and welfare of the NBA community,
Indeed, at the time Irving made his initial comments at Media Day in 2021, young Black men in the city, those between 18 and 30, had the lowest partial-vaccination rate of any cohort in the city at 38%. And only 28% of Black New Yorkers ages 18 to 44 years were fully vaccinated.
Abdul-Jabbar wasn’t alone in his criticism. Others also raised questions about what he was doing, or not doing. Our own Brian Fleurantin neatly summed things up in an essay for us.
What’s been frustrating about the responses from some of the players is that when it comes to other social issues, they don’t straddle the fence. You think of any issue related to race, justice, and equality, and when players speak about it, they speak with a sense of knowledge and clarity that shows they’ve studied the topic and are clear in what they share with the public. They aren’t wishy washy, don’t give credence to bad faith arguments or conspiracy theories, and do what they can to help those around them. It’s a sharp contrast to now when some of those biggest names are casting doubt on something that has been shown to keep people safe, largely without hospitalization.
And so, the opportunity passed. Instead of having Kyrie Irving, with his millions of followers on social media, encourage people to get the shot in public service commercials, Bruce Brown was given the job. Brown pointedly said, “There was no doubt I was getting vaccinated. I worked way too hard to get here.” The implication was hard to miss.
Ownership and management tried to ride the Kyrie wave, suspending him, then unsuspending him, trying to convince him of the efficacy of the vaccine as Joe Tsai did at a post-training camp reception in San Diego. The team even hired a lobbyist close to Mayor Eric Adams to try to modify the mandate, paying him six figures. In the end, the mandate was lifted in stages as the pandemic, slowed by the vaccination campaign, became more manageable.
At the same time, though, there was a less publicized if troubling report in Rolling Stone that Irving had not only refused to take his shot, but had been “liking” the craziest of anti-vaccine rhetoric, following a conspiracy theorist who claimed that “secret societies” are implanting vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for “a plan of Satan.”
That turned out to be prophetic. Just as the 2022-23 season began to dawn, there was Irving embroiled in not one, but two controversies involving conspiracy theories. The first, which broke in mid-September, was an odd one. Irving dredged up a 20-year-old video from the master of the conspiracy theories, Alex Jones...
In it, Jones, whose platform in 2002 was community access television, wove together what would become some of his favorite conspiracy theories ... as he inexplicitly became a favorite of cultists with grievances:
“There is tyrannical organization calling itself the ‘New World Order,’ pushing for worldwide government,” Jones said in the clip Irving posted. “A cashless society, total and complete tyranny. By centralizing and socializing healthcare, the state becomes god, basically, when it comes to your health. And by releasing diseases and viruses and plagues up on us, we basically get shoved into their system where human beings are absolutely worthless.”
It would have been standard conspiracy theory fare for Irving, but for one thing: Irving posted the video the very day that Jones went on trial for libel. Jones was being sued by parents of 20 children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December 2012. Jones had claimed that no one was killed and dismissed the massacre as a hoax and the work of “crisis actors.” The parents had to be in on it. At a press conference after his posting, Irving claimed he was not endorsing Jones but at one point stated of Jones’ New World Order comments, “it’s true!”
His decision to quote Jones and its timing angered many inside and outside the organization. As one Nets staffer said, “he lost anyone in the organization who had children.” Abdul-Jabbar again wrote about Irving’s conspiracy theories, this time calling for a boycott of Nike.
Kyrie Irving would be dismissed as a comical buffoon if it weren’t for his influence over young people who look up to athletes. When I look at some of the athletes who have used their status to actually improve society—Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russel, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, and more—it becomes clear how much Irving has tarnished the reputations of all athletes who strive to be seen as more than dumb jocks.
Locally, Kristian Winfield, then the Daily News beat writer, added,...
Merely associating with anything Jones has to say is enough to make Irving look ridiculous. But in digging deep into the crates for a sound bite, Irving publicly endorsed some of the most harmful ideas in modern society.
Then, just as that controversy began to die down, Irving decided to endorse a 2018 documentary in mid-October, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” on both his Twitter and Instagram accounts, complete with link to its Amazon page. Even more than his anti-vaccine stance, this created a firestorm...
The tweet first caught the attention of Rolling Stone writer Jon Blistein, who described the 2018 film and the 2015 book on which it is based, as “venomously antisemitic” noting that the book included commentary that “many famous high-ranking Jews” have “admitted” to “worship[ing] Satan or Lucifer.”
There was also the most routine of antisemitic tropes: Holocaust denial. Irving admitted at one of the press conferences around that time that yes, he had watched the entire documentary and contended that he had posted the link after finding it during a broad look at his own history.
Indeed, this controversy was more complicated, more bizarre than the vaccine. But there was also the cumulative affect of one controversy after another after another. Tsai, who has been a leader in dealing with anti-Chinese hate, was personally offended.
After Irving initially declined to apologize for the postings, the Nets suspended him yet again for five days without pay. Hours later, Irving did apologize and there followed a round of meetings involving the Nets, Commissioner Adam Silver, the NBPA, even one between Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu Tsai, with Irving’s family. An agreement was reached that the Nets and Irving would each contribute $500,000 to combat antisemitism and he finally returned to the team.
There are those who dismiss the controversy for a variety of reasons. They don’t see posting a link to video’s Amazon page as an endorsement, although after the social media postings, the book on which the documentary was based became the No. 1 seller in Amazon’s Religion and Spirituality and Social Sciences categories. That didn’t happen organically. Or they blame Amazon equally which is, to be kind, weak. There is something to personal accountability. Or they believe Tsai was being too harsh and too much of a boss, rather than a partner. Plus, they argued Tsai has his own issues with Alibaba’s role in helping Chinese authorities track Uyghurs, the Chinese Muslim minority. But ANTA, the Chinese footwear company who Irving now promotes as their chief creative officer, has its own issues with human rights activists.
Yes, he is gone from the Nets and is now in the NBA Finals but for some of us, his tenure in Brooklyn, basketball and otherwise, will remain painful. At each step along the way, he chose the anti-social. One recent study has shown that the anti-vax position he embraced has cost as many as 200,000 American lives — “perished as victims of a predatory/politically-driven antivaccine disinformation campaign.”
Irving did apologize for his endorsement of the antisemitic video — although he later pulled it — but he never apologized for the Alex Jones conspiracy theory endorsement. As for his role in the anti-vaxx movement, he has doubled down. At another point, he tweeted, “This enforced Vaccine/Pandemic is one the biggest violations of HUMAN RIGHTS in history.”
If I can work and be unvaccinated, then all of my brothers and sisters who are also unvaccinated should be able to do the same, without being discriminated against, vilified, or fired. ♾ This enforced Vaccine/Pandemic is one the biggest violations of HUMAN RIGHTS in history.— Chief Hélà (@KyrieIrving) September 20, 2022
There’s no indication either he apologized either to the Barclays Center security guards who stopped pro-Kyrie, anti-vaxx protestors — armed with bats and chains — from breaking through barriers and entering the arena on Opening Night of the 2021-22 season. “Free Kyrie” their signs read.
As Schwartz summed up:
There’s no way to know how much Irving still believes those views, but he’s hardly shown any remorse. Quite the opposite — he’s chosen to double down on much of it.
So no, they can’t be separated. Though Irving’s public standing might have fluctuated, the hate he spread sticks with him. When Irving takes the court Thursday night for Game 1 against the Celtics (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), he’ll be all of those things — an antisemite, an incredibly talented point guard, a conspiracy theorist and the Mavericks’ orchestrator.
Why isn’t this old news? Why should a Nets blog bother, now that he’s been gone for a year and a half and moved on? It’s simple, this is about not forgetting, about examining the role of sports in society. Too often, if you can make the play, win the game, all is forgiven or at least ignored. It can’t be. He should be asked the difficult questions if he has changed, if keeping things quiet this year represents change.
As big a name as he is, Kyrie Irving’s actions in Brooklyn cannot be reduced to a “tweet” or disagreeing with “mandates,” as some in the sport media have called them. They had a real world effect and cannot be shunted aside. Now, with the spotlight firmly on him starting tonight, there is need for accountability a fulsome discussion, of his role and the role of athletes in positions of influence. This reminder is our contribution.
Celtics in six.
Kyrie Irving on brink of another NBA Finals a tough pill for Nets fans ($) - Brian Lewis - New York Post Sports+
Does celebrating Kyrie Irving’s NBA Finals run mean forgiving his past misdeeds? ($) - Jared Schwartz - New York Post Sports+
A Kyrie Irving Media Roundtable To Make Sense Of His Dallas Mavericks Renaissance - Megan Armstrong - DIME
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