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      Why Nike Can Afford to Drop Kyrie Irving, Exerts Say

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      Kyrie Irving’s relationship with the athletic apparel giant has been lucrative, but his recent post about an antisemitic movie has led the company to suspend its dealings with him.Nike is facing plenty of challenges this year.A glut of sneakers and sports clothing has built up in recent months, leading to concerns that Nike will have to heavily mark down prices on shoes and sportswear if it wants to sell them during the competitive holiday season. That has taken a toll on its stock, which has fallen 41 percent in the past year.Then on Thursday, one of the superstar athletes with whom Nike partners, Kyrie Irving, was suspended by the Nets after he posted a link to an antisemitic film on social media.A day later, Nike suspended its relationship with the basketball star and said it would not release Mr. Irving’s new shoe, the Kyrie 8, which was supposed to hit the market on Tuesday. Nike has produced the shoe since 2014. The company does not disclose exactly how much revenue Mr. Irving’s shoes bring in, but it is only a fraction of what the company earns from its ties to other notable stars, especially the basketball great Michael Jordan.“There are some things that are outside of Nike’s control,” like supply chain and sourcing issues that are not so easily fixed, said David Swartz, an equity analyst at Morningstar. “This Kyrie Irving situation was in Nike’s control. They can drop him.”Nike did not respond to an email seeking comment on the financial implications of the suspension or the future of Mr. Irving’s relationship with the company.In its statement announcing the suspension of the relationship with Mr. Irving, the company said: “At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism.” It went on to add, “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”It was the second time in recent weeks that an athletic apparel company found itself in the middle of a controversy involving a celebrity partner.Last month, the rapper and designer Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, made a series of antisemitic remarks and wore a shirt with a slogan associated with white supremacists. Numerous companies and brands, including Balenciaga and the Creative Artists Agency, cut ties with the artist.But Adidas, which took slightly longer to sever its relationship with Ye, will suffer a significant financial impact. It had built an entire division inside the company dedicated to manufacturing and selling Yeezy merchandise. The company said the move would cost it 250 million euros, or roughly $246 million, this year.Unlike Adidas and Ye, Nike is not likely to experience the same sort of financial impact from suspending its relationship with Mr. Irving, whose contract with the company expires in October 2023.For Nike, the Jordan brand and its ties to Michael Jordan remain the gold standard. Last year, the Jordan Brand — which includes sneakers and other athletic wear — made up $5 billion of Nike’s $44.5 billion in total revenue.In the hopes of finding the next Mr. Jordan, Nike has inked deals with numerous basketball stars, including the Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, and Mr. Irving’s Nets teammate Kevin Durant.Many early iterations of Mr. Irving’s sneakers have been popular among fans and fellow basketball players.On a December 2020 call with Wall Street analysts and investors, John Donahoe, the president and chief executive of Nike, said, “This quarter’s launches in basketball, including the LeBron 18 and the Kyrie 7 have sold incredibly well.”Using celebrities and athletes to hawk products, or even design and develop them, is nothing new. For athletic giants like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour, forming ties to entertainment stars or top sports figures has been extremely lucrative for decades. But linking a brand to a celebrity or an athlete has always had its perils and, in the age of social media, those risks are increasingly apparent.Brands “have always been worried about this with celebrity endorsements,” said Barbara Kahn, professor of marketing at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.She said that in the past, companies relied on tying advertising campaigns more to the attributes of their products or how those products would make shoppers feel.“What you’re now seeing brands having to grapple with is what their brand values are,” Ms. Kahn said. “That makes the branding decisions much more complicated.”Nike has at times embraced divisive endorsers and polarizing ad campaigns. But Mr. Irving’s antisemitic remarks seemed to make suspending him a straightforward decision, Ms. Kahn said. She added that it was a continuation of the diversity and equity values that it has been signaling to consumers since partnering with the former N.F.L. quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2018.The situation involving Mr. Irving began last month when he posted a link on social media to the film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which is driven by antisemitic tropes. Among its claims is that the Holocaust never happened.When the Nets suspended Mr. Irving a week later, it said he was “unfit to be associated” with the team because he had since declined to say that he had no antisemitic views.The Lakers superstar Mr. James told reporters that he believed what Mr. Irving had done “caused some harm to a lot of people.”On Thursday, after being suspended, Mr. Irving apologized on his Instagram account. “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,” he said.For Mr. Irving, who considers himself a sneakerhead, many of the shoes he collaborated on with Nike were personal, like his “I Love You Mom” series of shoes.But last year, Mr. Irving went after Nike and a version of his Kyrie 8 shoes, claiming that he was not involved in the design process and that the resulting footwear was “trash.”“Nike plans to release it without my okay regardless of what I say,” Mr. Irving wrote at the time in a post on his Instagram. He added, “So I apologize in advance to all of my sneaker heads and true supporters.” More

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      LeBron James and Deni Avdija React to Kyrie Irving Posts

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      “If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harm people, then I don’t respect it,” LeBron James said. “I don’t condone it.”The Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Deni Avdija, a Washington Wizards forward from Israel, said Friday that they hoped Nets guard Kyrie Irving understood that he had hurt people when he promoted an antisemitic film on social media.Calling Irving a role model and great player who had made a mistake, Avdija said: “I don’t think it’s right to go out in public and publish it and let little kids that follow you see it and the generations to come after to think like that because it’s not true. And I don’t think it’s fair.”On Thursday, the Nets suspended Irving for at least five games, after he would not say that he did not have antisemitic beliefs. It had been a week since he tweeted a link to an antisemitic film and posted a screenshot of its online rental page to Instagram. He apologized late Thursday night, after he was suspended.James, who won an N.B.A. championship with Irving in Cleveland in 2016, said that he loved Irving but that what he had done was “unfortunate.”“I believe what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people,” James said Friday in Los Angeles after the Lakers lost to the Utah Jazz. He added: “If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harm people, then I don’t respect it. I don’t condone it.”In 2018, James apologized for posting music lyrics on Instagram that included the phrase “getting that Jewish money.”“I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people,” James said at the time.Few current N.B.A. players have spoken about Irving amid the public backlash to his social media posts. The N.B.A. said it had 120 international players at the start of the season last month, but Avdija was the only one from Israel. His comments about Irving came after the Nets beat the Wizards in Washington in the Nets’ first game since Irving’s suspension.“I think there need to be consequences for the actions that players do,” Avdija said. “I don’t know the amount, the punishment that the league gives, but I think it needs to be known that there’s no room for words like that.”Irving did not add captions or comments to his social media posts about the antisemitic 2018 film, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” But over the past week, he has been vague when asked what he did and did not agree with in the film. He has distanced himself from its claim that the Holocaust did not happen. On Wednesday, he announced with the Anti-Defamation League that he would donate $500,000 to anti-hate causes. The Nets said they would do the same.But Irving did not apologize at that time, drawing criticism from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the N.B.A. Hall of Famer who is known for his social justice work.“There was no explicit apology — which tells us everything about what he really believes,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a post on Substack. “Honestly, there’s little hope that he will change because he’s insulated by fame and money and surrounded by yes-people. There is no motivation to learn how to distinguish propaganda from facts. All that’s left is for the world to decide how it should respond to him.”Abdul-Jabbar also praised three former players who criticized Irving during a TNT broadcast of the Nets’ game against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday: Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Reggie Miller.Avdija said he hoped Irving was sorry. “He needs to understand that he gives example to people, and people look up to him,” he said. More

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      Nets Say Kyrie Irving’s Apology Isn’t Enough, and Nike Suspends Its Ties

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      Irving was suspended after he would not say he held no antisemitic beliefs. Nike suspended its relationship with him Friday.WASHINGTON — Nets guard Kyrie Irving, who was suspended indefinitely in the fallout of his social media posts promoting an antisemitic film, will have to meet with Jewish leaders and with the team before he can return to play, General Manager Sean Marks said Friday.The comments came a day after the team announced it had suspended Irving without pay for at least five games because he “refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material” in the film he posted about last week.“There is going to be some remedial steps and measures that have been put in place for him to, obviously, seek some counseling designated by the team,” Marks said, adding, “We’ll evaluate and see if this is the right opportunity to bring him back.”On Friday, Nike, which has produced Irving’s popular signature shoe since 2014, announced that it had suspended its relationship with him “effective immediately” and would not launch the next version of his shoe, the Kyrie 8.“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech, and we condemn any form of antisemitism,” the company said in a statement, adding, “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”Last week, Irving posted a link on Twitter to an antisemitic film and posted a screenshot of the movie’s online rental page on Instagram. As fans, team leaders and even N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver called for Irving to apologize, Irving resisted until after he was suspended Thursday.“I think we started this off by trying to work through an education piece to this and educate all parties involved,” Marks said. “That obviously did not work.”Hours after the team announced his suspension, Irving apologized in a late-night post on Instagram, saying, “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.”Marks addressed reporters at a morning shootaround Friday before a game against the Washington Wizards during a tumultuous week. The Nets are one of the worst teams in the N.B.A., with a record of 3-6, and they fired their coach, Steve Nash, on Tuesday.Antisemitism in AmericaAntisemitism is one of the longest-standing forms of prejudice, and those who monitor it say it is now on the rise across the country.Perilous Times: With hate speech on social media and number of reported incidents on the rise, this fall has become increasingly worrisome for American Jews.Kanye West: The rapper and designer, who now goes by Ye has been widely condemned for recent antisemitic comments. The fallout across industries has been swift.Kyrie Irving: The Nets suspended the basketball player, citing his “failure to disavow antisemitism,” after he defended his support of a film that made hateful claims about Jewish people.Midterms: No major contest this year has been shaped by concerns of antisemitism more prominently than the Pennsylvania governor’s race.Marks said Irving’s apology was a “step in the right direction” but “certainly not enough.”He added that he had not spoken to Irving since he apologized and that the Nets had not considered releasing him. As to whether Irving had shown any willingness to fulfill the team’s mandates for his return, Marks said, “I think we’re going to give him some time, and it’s up to him.”He continued: “His actions will speak louder than words. And if he wants to participate in that, we’ll see where it all goes.”Nets forward Kevin Durant, the team’s best player, also addressed reporters Friday but did not criticize Irving. Durant and Irving, who are friends, both joined the Nets in 2019.“I ain’t here to judge nobody or talk down on the life or how they feel, their views or anything,” Durant said. “I just didn’t like anything that went on. I felt like it was all unnecessary. I felt like we could have just kept playing basketball and kept quiet as an organization. I just don’t like none of it.”Asked if he thought Irving’s suspension was unfair, Durant said, “I believe and trust in the organization to do what’s right.”After Durant began to receive criticism on social media for his comments, he followed up with a Twitter post an hour later.“Just wanna clarify the statements I made at shootaround, I see some people are confused,” Durant said. “I don’t condone hate speech or anti-semetism, I’m about spreading love always. Our game Unites people and I wanna make sure that’s at the forefront.”The backlash against the 30-year-old Irving began last week, when he posted a link on Twitter to the 2018 film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which promotes several antisemitic tropes. On Saturday, after a loss to the Indiana Pacers, Irving reiterated his support for the film and for an antigovernment conspiracy theory promoted by the Infowars host Alex Jones.The Nets owner Joe Tsai and Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, were among those who had criticized Irving for the post. Silver, the commissioner, called Irving’s post “reckless” and said that he would meet with Irving soon. But even after Irving announced with the A.D.L. on Wednesday that he would donate $500,000 to anti-hate causes, he spoke to reporters and declined to apologize. He acknowledged that there were some things in the film he did not agree with, although he did not specify what they were.“Some of the criticism of the Jewish faith and the community, for sure,” Irving said Thursday. “Some points made in there that were unfortunate.”That was around noon. Over the next 12 hours, the Nets suspended him, saying he was “unfit to be associated” with the team, and Greenblatt said the A.D.L. could not “in good conscience” accept his donation. (The donation announcement had not said that Irving’s funds, or an equal amount from the Nets, would go to the A.D.L. A Nets spokesperson said later that the team and the A.D.L. would work together to decide where the donations would go.)Representative Yvette Clarke, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn, said in a Twitter post that Irving’s suspension was “long overdue” and that antisemitism “has no place in Brooklyn or anywhere else.”In response to Irving’s apology, Greenblatt tweeted Friday morning: “Actions speak louder than words. Because of his post and previous refusals to walk it back, the #antisemitic film/book is now a best seller in multiple categories on @amazon. There is a lot more to do to undo this damage.”Irving’s signature Nike sneakers are popular among players in the N.B.A. and the W.N.B.A. Nike suspended its relationship with him Friday.Jessie Alcheh/Associated PressOn Friday afternoon, the film was ranked No. 1 among documentaries on Amazon, and a complementary book with the same name was top-ranked in the Christian education category.Irving said in his apology that he “initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters.”Some fans have said they would no longer support the Nets because of Irving, though others had mixed feelings. And Nike’s decision to cut ties with him could have a ripple effect in basketball: Irving’s shoes are popular among players at colleges and in the N.B.A. and the W.N.B.A. Sue Bird, who retired from the Seattle Storm in September, played in custom versions of Irving’s sneakers that read “Keep Sue Fresh.” Many players at Duke University, which Irving attended, have worn his shoes.Most N.B.A. players have agreements with shoe companies that provide them money and shoes, but few have signature sneakers branded with their names — just 20 to 30 each season. Nike, for instance, makes lines of shoes named for Durant, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, among others. The contracts between players and Nike usually remain private, however, judging by details known about other shoe deals, Nike likely pays Irving several million dollars per year.Nike has been the official provider of N.B.A. uniforms and apparel since the 2017-18 season.The drama around Irving’s posts and now his absence have added to the woes of a reeling Nets team that entered the season less than three weeks ago with championship aspirations. On Friday, Durant spoke about the role the news media has played in Irving’s situation.“This is the way of the N.B.A. now,” Durant said. “So many outlets now, and their stories hit pretty fast now. So that’s where all the chaos is coming from — everybody’s opinions. Everybody has an opinion on the situation, and we’re hearing it nonstop.“But once the ball starts bouncing and we get into practice, none of that stuff really seeps into the gym. So that’s the cool part about being in the league.”Irving will be out at least until Nov. 13, when the Nets will be in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers. This will put much of the team’s offensive burden on the 34-year-old Durant. Ben Simmons, who starts at guard alongside Irving, has been injured for the past two games and is expected to miss at least two more games with left knee soreness.The Nets also have not announced a permanent head coach to replace Nash; the assistant coach Jacque Vaughn has been filling in since Nash was fired Tuesday.Tania Ganguli More

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      Nets Suspend Kyrie Irving Indefinitely After Antisemitic Movie Post

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      Irving posted a link to an antisemitic movie last week but has declined to apologize. His suspension will last at least five games.The Nets suspended guard Kyrie Irving indefinitely Thursday, calling him “unfit to be associated” with the team because he has declined to say he has no antisemitic views in the week since he posted a link on Twitter to a film with hateful claims about Jewish people.“Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team,” the Nets said in a statement.Irving will be suspended without pay for at least five games and “until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct,” the team said.On Thursday, before he was suspended, Irving declined to apologize for his post but said there were some things in the film he did not agree with.“I didn’t mean to cause any harm,” Irving said after a Nets practice. “I’m not the one that made the documentary.”When asked what specific points in the film he did not agree with, Irving responded vaguely.“Some of the criticism of the Jewish faith and the community, for sure,” Irving said. “Some points made in there that were unfortunate.”The team said in the suspension announcement that it was “dismayed” that Irving did not “acknowledge specific hateful material in the film.”Last week, Irving posted a link on Twitter to the film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which is driven by antisemitic tropes about Jewish people lying about their origins. Its false and outlandish claims about Jews include the assertion that the Holocaust never happened.“Those falsehoods are unfortunate,” Irving said when asked if he believed that the Holocaust occurred, despite what the movie said. “And it’s not that I don’t believe in the Holocaust. I never said that. Never ever have said it. It’s not come out of my mouth. I never tweeted it. I never liked anything like it. So, the Holocaust in itself is an event that means something to a large group of people that suffered something that could have been avoided.”On Sunday, Irving deleted the Twitter post that included the film’s link, but he had not spoken publicly since Saturday. That night, during a postgame news conference, Irving argued with a reporter about whether he was promoting the movie by posting about it on Twitter.In the past week, the N.B.A. and its players’ union released statements condemning antisemitism without naming Irving. The Nets owner Joe Tsai said in a tweet that he was “disappointed” with Irving and would speak to him.In a statement released with the Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday, Irving and the Nets said they would each donate $500,000 to unspecified causes and organizations that combat hate in their communities. When asked Thursday if he had met with the Anti-Defamation League, Irving said he was told that the organization wanted a meeting and “we handled it.” Irving had said in his statement Wednesday that he took responsibility for his post.On Thursday morning, less than an hour before Irving spoke to reporters at practice, N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment that Irving had not “offered an unqualified apology and more specifically denounced the vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize.” Silver said he planned to meet with Irving within the next week.The Nets said in their statement announcing Irving’s suspension that they had tried to help Irving “understand the harm and danger of his words and actions.”“We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one, and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance,” the team said.Irving spoke to reporters for about six minutes Thursday before a member of the Nets’ public relations team ended the news conference. Irving spent half that time responding to a question about whether he was surprised that his Twitter post hurt people.Fans at a Nets game Monday wore T-shirts that said “fight antisemitism.”Vincent Carchietta/USA Today Sports, via Reuters“I think I can ask a better question which is, where were you when I was a kid figuring out that 300 million of my ancestors are buried in America?” said Irving, who has African American and Native American heritage. “Where were you guys asking those same questions when I was a kid learning about the traumatic events of my familial history and what I’m proud to come from? And why I’m proud to stand here?”When Irving was asked if he had any antisemitic beliefs, he said he respected all walks of life.“I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from,” Irving said when he was asked to answer the question with a “yes” or “no.”Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, chastised Irving for his response.“The answer to the question — ‘Do you have any antisemitic beliefs’ is always ‘NO’ without equivocation,” Greenblatt said in a post on Twitter. “We took @KyrieIrving at his word when he said he took responsibility, but today he did not make good on that promise. Kyrie clearly has a lot of work to do.”The N.B.A. has penalized players for hate speech. Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was fined $40,000 in September for using homophobic language in a video he posted on social media.In March 2021, the league fined Meyers Leonard of the Miami Heat $50,000 and suspended him for one week because he used an antisemitic slur while playing video games on a livestream. Miami also suspended him for two days while the N.B.A. investigated. The Heat then quickly traded Leonard to Oklahoma City, which released him about a week later. No team has signed him since then. More

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      Charlotte Hornets’ Miles Bridges Pleads No Contest in Domestic Violence Case

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      Bridges, who played for the Charlotte Hornets last season, was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children in June.Miles Bridges, who played for the Charlotte Hornets last season, pleaded no contest to one felony domestic violence charge of injuring a child’s parent, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday. He will be placed on three years’ probation but will avoid jail time as part of a plea agreement.“We believe this resolution was the best avenue to hold Mr. Bridges accountable for his conduct,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. “We also understand through the victim’s representatives that the victim wanted an expedited resolution of the case. The victim and her representatives were consulted about the proposed resolution and agreed with the outcome of the case.”A lawyer for Bridges did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The charge stemmed from an incident in late June, when Bridges, 24, was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their two children. Bridges was arrested on June 29 and released on $130,000 bond.Days after Bridges’s arrest, Mychelle Johnson, a former college basketball player who has two children with Bridges, posted multiple photos on Instagram displaying apparent bruising and other marks on her body. She did not mention Bridges, and the post was later deleted.Bridges faced multiple felony charges of domestic violence and child abuse, and prosecutors accused him of causing “great bodily injury on the domestic violence victim.” Prosecutors have not named the victims in the case.“Domestic violence creates physical, mental and emotional trauma that has a lasting impact on survivors,” George Gascón, the Los Angeles County district attorney, said in a statement in July. “Children who witness family violence are especially vulnerable and the impact on them is immeasurable. Mr. Bridges will be held accountable for his actions and our Bureau of Victim Services will support the survivors through this difficult process.”In addition to probation, Bridges was ordered to undergo a year of domestic violence counseling and, separately, parenting classes and to provide 100 hours of community service. The sentence also includes a 10-year restraining order for the domestic violence victim, weekly drug tests, and restitution for the victim that will be determined at a hearing in January, according to the district attorney’s office.Bridges had spent the past four years in the N.B.A. with the Hornets. His arrest came one day before the start of the free agency period, when he was projected to be signed to a maximum contract worth around $173 million, according to multiple news media reports. Bridges, currently unsigned, had been a restricted free agent, meaning the Hornets had the right to match other teams’ offers for Bridges. The Hornets gave Bridges a qualifying offer before his arrest, but he has not accepted it. It is not clear whether the team still plans to sign him; the Hornets did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Bridges’s contract status, but they released a statement.“We are aware of today’s developments regarding Miles Bridges’s legal situation,” the team said in a statement. “We will continue to gather information before determining any potential next steps. Until then, we will have no additional comments.”Under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, Commissioner Adam Silver is able to place a player on administrative leave while the league investigates domestic violence accusations. If the league determines that the domestic violence policy has been violated, the N.B.A. may “fine, suspend, or dismiss and disqualify” a player, according to the agreement.The N.B.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More

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      Spurs Psychologist Sues Joshua Primo, Saying He Exposed Himself to Her

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      A sports psychologist for the San Antonio Spurs sued Joshua Primo and the team, saying the Spurs did not protect her after she complained to senior executives.A sports psychologist who worked for the San Antonio Spurs said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that Joshua Primo, a former lottery draft pick of the Spurs, repeatedly exposed himself to her during treatment sessions and that the team did not protect her and others after she reported his conduct.Dr. Hillary Cauthen, a licensed clinical psychologist who was contracted by the team in September 2021, said Primo first exposed his penis to her in December 2021. She asked for a meeting with Spurs General Manager Brian Wright, according to her complaint, but didn’t get one until March 2022. She was then asked to continue working with Primo, who again exposed himself to her in another session, according to a copy of her lawsuit, which was provided by her lawyer, Tony Buzbee.The filing was not immediately available from the court, but the clerk’s office in Bexar County, Texas, where San Antonio is located, confirmed that Dr. Cauthen filed a lawsuit against Primo and the Spurs on Thursday.Primo’s lawyer, William J. Briggs II, said in a statement that Primo “never intentionally exposed himself” to Dr. Cauthen or any other person. Primo was not aware his genitals were visible outside of his workout shorts, Briggs said, and Dr. Cauthen did not tell him they were.“Dr. Cauthen’s allegations are either a complete fabrication, a gross embellishment or utter fantasy,” Briggs said.The Spurs said in a statement: “We disagree with the accuracy of facts, details and timeline presented today. While we would like to share more information, we will allow the legal process to play out.”An N.B.A. spokesman said, “We are aware of the allegations and are monitoring the situation.”The Spurs cut Primo, the No. 12 pick in the 2021 N.B.A. draft, last Friday. The team did not explain the reasons behind the sudden move, which came five games into the season and two weeks after the team exercised the third-year option in Primo’s contract, guaranteeing his $4.3 million salary for the 2023-24 season.Buzbee, who represented two dozen women who accused N.F.L. quarterback Deshaun Watson of harassment and lewd conduct in massage appointments, said in a news conference Thursday that he and Dr. Cauthen were trying to resolve the issue privately and wanted the Spurs to put in place formal protocols for handling complaints like Dr. Cauthen’s. They filed a lawsuit against Primo and the Spurs after anonymously sourced news reports said that Primo was released because he exposed himself to multiple women.Dr. Hillary Cauthen at a news conference on Thursday.via KSAT PlusAccording to the copy of her lawsuit, Dr. Cauthen had multiple meetings with members of the Spurs organization, including Wright, the deputy general counsel and the head of human resources, after she complained about Primo’s conduct. The team promised to conduct an investigation but did not take immediate steps to discipline Primo or ensure she did not have to interact with him, Dr. Cauthen said.The team suggested she work from home and later told her to “sit out” traveling with the Spurs during the 2022 Summer League in Las Vegas after she said she was frustrated with the team’s inaction, her lawsuit said. Dr. Cauthen, who co-owns an Austin-based performance and psychological services company, said she was not retained by the Spurs when her contract came up for renewal in August.“The organization I worked for has failed me,” Dr. Cauthen said at the news conference. “I spoke up. I asked for help.”Buzbee said Dr. Cauthen will also file a criminal complaint in Bexar County, accusing Primo of multiple counts of indecent exposure.Primo was placed on waivers last weekend, which gave other teams the chance to claim him. No team did, and Primo became an unrestricted free agent.In a statement announcing that the team was waiving Primo, R.C. Buford, the chief executive of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, said, “It is our hope that, in the long run, this decision will serve the best interest of both the organization and Joshua.” Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich declined to comment to reporters at the time.Until Dr. Cauthen’s lawsuit was filed, neither Primo nor the Spurs had directly addressed the reasons for his release. In a statement to ESPN last Friday, Primo said he had been seeking help to deal with “previous trauma” and would be focusing on his mental health treatment after his release.Buzbee called the public statements made by Primo and the Spurs “complete farces” and said they did not reflect what happened. Dr. Cauthen said she was “disheartened” by the situation.“It took the Spurs 10 months to do the right thing,” Dr. Cauthen said of the decision to waive Primo. “That’s too long.” More

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      Kyrie Irving to Donate $500,000 After Promoting Antisemitic Movie

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      Irving, the Nets guard, and the team said they would each donate $500,000 to “causes and organizations that work to eradicate hate.”Nets guard Kyrie Irving and the team said Wednesday that they would each donate $500,000 to “causes and organizations that work to eradicate hate and intolerance in our communities” after Irving posted a link on Twitter to an antisemitic documentary last week.The donations were announced in a joint statement from the Nets, Irving and the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization that fights antisemitism.“I am aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community and I take responsibility,” Irving said in the statement. “I do not believe everything said in the documentary was true or reflects my morals and principles.”Irving added that he “meant no harm to any one group, race or religion of people, and wish to only be a beacon of truth and light.”Irving initially defended the post during a contentious postgame news conference Saturday, but he removed the post Sunday.The Nets declined to comment when asked if Irving would face any discipline from the team. The N.B.A. did not respond when asked if Irving would face discipline from the league.Shortly after Irving posted the link to the documentary to Twitter, the N.B.A. and its players’ union released separate statements that condemned antisemitism but did not name Irving, who is a vice president in the union.The union said it was “committed to helping players fully understand that certain words can lead to hateful ideologies being spread.” The N.B.A.’s statement said that the league would work on “identifying and combating” hate speech.Only the Nets owner Joe Tsai identified Irving by name in a statement he posted Friday on Twitter.“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of antisemitic disinformation,” Tsai said. “I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion.”On Saturday, Irving defended posting the link to the movie, saying “history is not supposed to be hidden from anybody.”He said he found the documentary by searching on the Amazon website for the word “yahweh,” the Hebrew word for God.“Did I do anything illegal?” Irving said. “Did I hurt anybody? Did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people?”He added later: “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.”The Nets did not make him available to reporters after home games on Monday and Tuesday, in violation of league rules. Nets General Manager Sean Marks said on Tuesday that Irving was not speaking to reporters because the team did not “want to cause more fuss right now, more interaction with people.” He also acknowledged that Irving’s news conference on Saturday did not go well.Marks said Tuesday that Irving had not been disciplined by the team because the Nets were having conversations with the Anti-Defamation League.“There’s an education piece for everybody here,” Marks said. “There’s an empathetic piece to this and understanding that we need to move on and we need to do the right thing without a doubt.”Marks was asked Tuesday night how he would respond to Nets fans who did not want to root for the team anymore.“Look, it’s understandable,” Marks said. “I’m completely empathetic to what’s going on here. I’m certainly not proud of the situation we find ourselves in.”The Nets lost to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, dropping them to a record of 2-6. The game was broadcast on TNT. Three former players who are part of TNT’s broadcast team sharply criticized Irving for his post and the league and its players for their responses. Shaquille O’Neal called Irving an “idiot,” Charles Barkley said the league should have suspended him and Reggie Miller criticized other players for not speaking out against Irving’s post. More

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      The Nets Dumped Steve Nash. Should It Have Been Kyrie Irving?

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      The star-loaded Nets have an awful record and parted ways with Coach Steve Nash. But a bigger problem with Kyrie Irving and his antisemitic social media post remains.Be careful what you wish for. That adage comes to mind when I think of Kyrie Irving and his misguided, misinformed and downright dangerous support of antisemitism.Nets General Manager Sean Marks, in announcing the firing of Coach Steve Nash at a news conference on Tuesday, tried to say Irving’s sorry-not-sorry stance over the antisemitic and conspiratorial posts he made on social media had nothing to do with the team’s decision to part ways with Nash.He said no players were consulted, and he urged reporters not to link the coaching change and Irving’s posts.But it’s hard not to separate Irving from the disaster the Nets have become, even though they were hyped before the season as a possible title contender behind the force of Irving and Kevin Durant.Irving’s offensive posts, while no longer online, are clearly overshadowing the Nets, and the league. Some courtside fans wore T-shirts reading “Fight Antisemitism” at a home game Monday against the Indiana Pacers, and Marks said that the team has been asking for advice from the Anti-Defamation League. He would not say if Irving has been part of those conversations.He really should be, and the N.B.A., sputtering from crisis to crisis this season, should be ashamed one of its franchises has to resort to such a dialogue.This episode shows that the athlete empowerment I’ve championed has a flip side: Irving needs to consider the power of his words and his role in spreading dangerous messages to millions.Irving, the Nets point guard, is a basketball star with a megaphone. Nike sponsors him and produces his signature shoe. He is a vice president of the N.B.A. players’ union. He is not only a regular in the nationally televised sports firmament, he has 22 million followers on Twitter and Instagram.He can use his platform for good, which he has done as one of the many famed Black athletes who stood against injustice during the tumult of 2020 following the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.But he can also do as he is now — use his status to inject poison into our world.Irving recently shared to his sizable social media following a link to a film that is a case study in antisemitic tropes and the disgusting narratives that have dogged and harmed Jews for generations. I will not give the movie any more credence or legitimacy by naming it. But let’s put it this way: Any narrative that claims Jews controlled the slave trade and worship the devil deserves the firmest of condemnations.And in case you missed it, this is not the first time Irving has gone down the rabbit hole. Just a few weeks ago, he was sharing an old video of Alex Jones railing against the so-called New World Order.Alex Jones. The alt-right talk show fraud recently ordered by a jury to pay nearly $1 billion to the families he defamed after their children died in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.Has Irving expressed any remorse or doubt for any of his posts? No, none. Instead, he doubled down, sticking to what has now become the script for public cowards, casting himself as a victim of reporters and anyone else who dares to ask about his support of hatred. “Why are you dehumanizing me?” he said after Saturday’s game, claiming he did nothing wrong and denying any responsibility.Irving has shown himself as a poor and unacceptable leader for the Nets. Yet if Nash goes because he’s proved to be a mediocre coach, why should the team tolerate someone like Irving?It was easy to shrug off Irving as eccentric when he claimed with a straight face that the Earth is flat.He’s clearly a man easily duped into following conspiratorial thinking and who fails to vet or think critically about the information he consumes.Then came more warning signs he would not shirk from peddling dangerous ideas. He held tight to his anti-vaccination beliefs during the coronavirus pandemic and refused to follow science during a public health crisis that has killed over one million Americans and decimated Black and Brown communities that Irving claims to care for deeply.It’s time for the N.B.A. to consider the ramifications of having him in the league.Kyrie Irving has caused a backlash over his antisemitic and conspiratorial social media posts.Monique Jaques for The New York Times“Let’s acknowledge that Kyrie is a basketball player, not a scholar, a subject matter expert on these issues,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said when we spoke Tuesday. “On the other hand, he’s a role model, one of the most beloved players in the league, let alone in Brooklyn. And I say that because when he tweets, it says something, and it sends signals, and people listen to him.”All of this feeds into a grim reality for American Jews. Fueled by antisemitism from several quarters, acts of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions reached the highest level seen in the nearly 45 years the A.D.L. has been tracking such hate crimes, according to Greenblatt.The sad paradox is that Irving plays for a team based in Brooklyn, where “we have seen a surge of antisemitism in recent years,” Greenblatt said. “Jewish people are getting harassed, Jewish homes and synagogues are getting vandalized. People are getting assaulted. What Kyrie did, considering the team he plays on, that’s why I think it struck such a nerve for so many people.”With fame comes responsibility. Part of that is the responsibility to gain critical understanding before using the power of your voice. Irving and others did that in 2020, ushering in a new age of empowerment, and athletes felt encouraged to speak up against authority. But he failed miserably with his recent posts.Should we hold out hope that he can redeem himself?Remarkably, Greenblatt believes he can. If, that is, Irving “will take the time to engage kind of in a process of learning and healing, working to better understand.”“I think all of us would be well served by this.”Greenblatt is ready for the call. Is Irving? More