I want to circle back to Kyrie Irving and his choice not to renounce his acknowledgement of a book/documentary film that is widely believed to be false and antisemitic. Because this is a sensitive topic, let me begin with two unequivocal declarations:
- All religious persecution and/or discrimination is wrong.
- The Holocaust happened during the time of World War II.
Kyrie Irving appears to me to think of himself not merely as being the “smartest guy in the room” but most likely as the “smartest guy in any room populated with any assortment of other human beings dead or alive”. He is certainly entitled to think of himself in that way just as I am certainly entitled to think that he is deluded and ain’t half as smart as he thinks he is. And If my sense of him is even nearly accurate, his self-perception is one of the barriers standing in the way of him simply declaring:
“I was wrong; I do not align myself with the antisemitic “stuff” in that book/documentary; I will not do anything so hurtful and wrong again.”
Irving has now been suspended without pay by his team – the Brooklyn Nets – for an indefinite period but one of at least 5 games. The owner says that for now Kyrie Irving is not suitable to be part of the Nets organization. According to one report I read a sincere apology, some sign of contrition and attendance at “sensitivity training” are part of what Irving needs to do to render himself “suitable to be part of the Nets organization” thereby leading to reinstatement.
Since I am unaware of the existence of a “sincereness meter” and/or a “contrition monitor” and since I have only minimal confidence in short term “sensitivity training events”, I think this matter is light-years away from any real resolution. But there is another twist to add that will only make this more complicated.
NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, says he wants to meet with Irving about all this. And at that point the NBPA – – Irving is a Vice-President of that union – – says that they will have to consider Silver’s request for its propriety. To paraphrase the union’s statement here:
- So far, Irving has been punished by his team and the union has very little to say about that matter.
- However, if Silver gets involved, the that makes it a “league issue” and in that arena the union has rights, and responsibilities.
The Labor Movement in the US rightfully and properly fought to advance workers’ rights and worker safety because until there were unions, laborers were mistreated and exploited by management. Unions exist solely to protect their members from such mistreatment and exploitation and unions take that charge seriously and act accordingly. But in this case, it seems to me that some of the puzzle pieces just do not fit.
- Kyrie Irving is not being exploited by his team or the NBA. When his contract expires at the end of this season and he becomes a free agent, Irving will have made approximately $240M playing basketball. That is not exploitation.
- What Irving has done is to take a social position that many folks believe is just this side of heinous. Until his suspension without pay, he appeared to me to have enjoyed toying with reporters’ questions about his beliefs and why he endorsed the book/documentary that he did.
- And the union now interprets that it needs to protect him from discussing all this with the Commissioner?
When all this began, here Is what the union had to say:
“Anti-Semitism has no place in our society. The NBPA is focused on creating an environment where everyone is accepted. We are committed to helping players fully understand that certain words can lead to hateful ideologies being spread. We will continue to work on identifying and combating all hate speech wherever it arises.”
One might quibble that the statement could have been stronger, but it was clearly on point regarding the fact that antisemitism as a form of religious discrimination or religious persecution “has no place in our society.” What the NBPA seems incapable of doing is admitting that one of its members ran afoul of what the NBPA asserts is right and proper behavior.
The NBA, the NBPA and many of the players in the NBA have done a lot of positive work regarding racial injustice and exploitation. All of these entities have received public kudos for those actions. So, a question now arises as to why there is no similar activity by the league or the players or the union.
- Jews are a minority in the US as are Blacks; in fact, according the 2020 Census, there are far fewer Jews in the US than there are Blacks. So, where are the cries of outrage from players, the league, and the union?
- When the NBPA does not sanction this misbehavior and then takes up for the perpetrator in some small way, does that not undermine the seemingly unequivocal statement that “Antisemitism has no place in our society”?
- Memo to NBPA: Even Nike – – often accused of significant exploitation of laborers – – sees what Kyrie Irving has done and is doing as a bridge too far. It has canceled the next iteration of a signature shoe from Irving and terminated its relationship with him. Perhaps that act might signal a need for the union to rethink its position and its inaction here?
Finally, since I mentioned Kyrie Irving’s career earnings above, let me close with this remark from Dorothy Parker:
“Money cannot buy health, but I’d settle for a diamond-studded wheelchair.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………