A group of fans sat courtside at Monday’s Nets-Pacers game in Brooklyn wearing T-shirts reading ‘Fight anti-Semitism’ and reportedly heckled Kyrie Irving.
The Brooklyn Nets beat the Indiana Pacers 116-109 Monday night but the guard still managed to attract some heckling.Â
The fans sat in the front row with the men in the group wearing yarmulkes, as is customary in some Jewish communities.Â
The group were reportedly ribbing the Nets star, according to the New York Post, seemingly in response to his latest anti-Semitism controversy.Â
Despite the light chirping from the fans, Irving approached them and said, ‘Grateful for you guys,’ according to a Brooklyn fan.Â
Irving grabbed attention earlier this week for publicizing the 2018 film ‘Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America’ on social media with a link to its Amazon page.
Fans sat courtside at Monday’s Nets game wearing T-shirts reading ‘Fight anti-Semitism’
The move was seemingly in response to Nets’ Kyrie Irving’s latest anti-Semitism controversy
The group were reportedly ribbing the guard and he told them he was ‘grateful’ for them
Magazine Rolling Stone has labeled the book with the same name, released in 2015, which the film is based on as ‘venomously anti-Semitic’.Â
Publication Rolling Stone pointed out that the book by Ronald Dalton Jr. comments that ‘many famous high-ranking Jews’ have ‘admitted to ‘worship[ing] Satan or Lucifer.’
Both the NBA and Nets owner Joe Tsai released statement condemning Irving’s post, but he initially doubled down on his stance, following Brooklyn’s game on Saturday night.Â
During a testy exchange with a reporter in the postgame press conference Saturday, he said: ‘I’m not going to stand down on anything I believe in. I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.’
However, the Nets star did eventually delete the tweet Sunday following uproar and backlash.Â
Irving scored 28 points during the Nets’ much-needed win Monday night.Â
Kevin Durant lifted Brooklyn to the win with 36 points and he authored some personal and franchise history in Brooklyn´s second win of the season (2-5).Â
The Brooklyn Nets star caught the attention for publicizing the 2018 film ‘Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America’ on social media with a link to its Amazon page
The NBA released a statement , insisting hate speech of any kind is unacceptable
Nets owner Joe Tsai condemned Irving’s actions on Friday and wants to speak to him
Tsai (center) said ‘this is bigger than basketball’ in his response to Irving’s posts on Friday
With two first quarter free throws, Durant passed Vince Carter for 19th on the NBA´s All-Time scoring list. He now has 25,754. And he has scored at least 25 points in each of the first seven games of the season, the most in franchise history.
‘You definitely can’t take him for granted,’ Nic Claxton said about Durant. ‘Seeing him work his way back from the Achilles injury, went to rehab and how serious he took every single step. And now these past few years he’s doing his thing. Definitely you don’t take that for granted. It’s a pleasure to watch.’
Claxton had 19 points and nine rebounds.
‘It was very important for us to get a response,’ Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said. ‘The win is nice but I care much more about the process. And I thought our process was great.’
Kevin Durant lifted Brooklyn to the win over the Indiana Pacers with 36 points Monday Night
Durant authored some personal and franchise history in Brooklyn´s second win of the season
Irving added 28 points of his own as the Nets beat the Pacers 116-109 to go 2-5
Despite a 30-point performance from Chris Duarte, Indiana dropped to 3-5. Buddy Hield chipped in with 22. Bennedict Mathurin contributed 16, and Tyrese Haliburton had 11.
‘We were flat at the beginning (and) they came out with a lot of force. Didn´t match it early and the hole cost us,’ said Rick Carlisle. ‘…Their level of desperation was really there, I thought.’
The Nets won a highly entertaining back-and-forth game in the fourth quarter. Entering the final 12 minutes, Brooklyn had a 92-85 lead. But Indiana used a 15-8 spurt over the first 6 and a half minutes to draw even at 100-all.
‘A lead is never safe with them,’ Nash said.
Related Post
Brooklyn’s head coach Steve Nash said it was ‘very important for his team to get a response’
On their next two possessions, the Nets responded. First Claxton´s two-handed follow dunk of an Irving missed 3 put Brooklyn up by two, and 28 seconds later Durant drilled a pullup jumper to stretch the lead to 104-100.
A few moments later the lead was seven following two made Durant free throws and a Claxton free throw. Indiana closed to 112-109 on a Mathurin floater with 1:43 left.
‘Guys are able to make plays,’ Nets forward Joe Harris said of the Pacers. ‘They’re young players but they’re really talented, especially offensively.’
But an Irving floater extended the lead to five, and two Durant free throws sealed the win.
‘They´ve got two guys who are just breathtaking playmakers and shotmakers in Irving and (Durant),’ Carlisle said. ‘Those guys are (going to) hit some of those shots.’
