Kyrie’s road to redemption: The Nets tell Irving ‘to meet with Jewish community leaders’

Kyrie Irving has reportedly had his path back to the Brooklyn Nets team mapped out to him after being suspended for at least five games for linking to an anti-Semitic film on Twitter.

According to a report in The Athletic on Saturday night, Irving must complete six steps before he will be seen again in a Nets jersey in the NBA.

One step – an apology for linking to the movie – appears to have already been completed with the statement he posted on Instagram on Thursday night, which came after the Nets said he was suspended for at least five games.

Irving must also complete the anti-hate causes the Nets first mentioned on November 2. It included a $500,000 donation to the Anti-Defamation League but last week, its CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said the organization could not accept the money while Irving refused to apologize.

The third step would see Irving complete sensitivity training and step four would be to complete antisemitic and hate training – both of which are created by the Nets.

Step five would see Irving meet with Jewish community leaders in Brooklyn and then, in step six, Irving would meet with Nets owner Joe Tsai to demonstrate what the Athletic says would be ‘the lessons learned and that the gravity of the harm caused is understood’.

Kyrie Irving has reportedly had his path back to the Brooklyn Nets team mapped out to him

Irving played for the Nets last weekend, after sharing the link to the video, and on Tuesday night against the Chicago Bulls.

After the Nets suspended him on Thursday, Irving said in an Instagram statement: ‘While doing research on YHWH, I posted a Documentary that contained some false anti-Semitic statements, narratives, and language that were untrue and offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion, and I take full accountability and responsibly for my actions. 

‘I am grateful to have a big platform to share knowledge and I want to move forward by having an open dialogue to learn more and grow from this.

‘To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize. 

‘I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary. 

‘I want to clarify any confusion on where I stand fighting against Anti- semticism by apologizing for posting the documentary without context and a factual explanation outlining the specific beliefs in the Documentary I agreed with and disagreed with. 

‘I had no intentions to disrespect any Jewish cultural history regarding the Holocaust or perpetuate any hate. I am learning from this unfortunate event and hope we can find understanding between us all. 

‘I am no different than any other human being. I am a seeker of truth and knowledge, and I know who I Am.’

 On Friday night, Nike said has suspended its relationship with Irving. It also said it will not launch the Kyrie 8s later this month – the shoe designed by the player and company. 

A Nike statement said: ‘We believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism. 

‘To that end, we’ve made the decision to suspend out relationship with Kyrie Irving and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8. 

‘We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.’