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      LeBron James Keeps the World Watching

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      LeBron James sat in the visitors locker room at Madison Square Garden with ice on his 38-year-old knees and 28 more points to his name after his Los Angeles Lakers beat the Knicks in overtime. James’s teammate Anthony Davis teased him about how close he was to breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s N.B.A. career scoring record, then about 90 points away.Suddenly, James remembered something. His mother, Gloria James, was set to go on vacation soon. She might miss his record-breaking game.He called her on speakerphone, with a dozen attentive reporters close by. He asked when she was leaving, reminding her every once in a while, lest she disclose too much, that reporters could hear the conversation. Eventually, he looked around, sheepishly, and said he would call her later.“I love you,” he said. Then, just before he ended the call, he added: “I love you more.”It was typical James: He brings you along for the ride, but on his terms, revealing what he wants to reveal and no more. It is perhaps the only way someone who has been so famous for most of his life could survive the machine of modern celebrity.As he has closed in on Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points, the very idea of what it means to be a star has shifted since James scored his first two points on Oct. 29, 2003. And James has helped define that shift. He has risen above the din of social media celebrities and 24-hour news cycles, buoyed by the basketball fans who love him or love to hate him.James, at age 38, is closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s N.B.A. career scoring record while playing with the energy of a much younger version of himself.Ashley Landis/Associated PressHe has been a selfie-snapping tour guide for this journey, with a portfolio that now extends well beyond the court. He has a production company and a show on HBO. He’s acted in a few movies and received some good reviews. His foundation has helped hundreds of students in his hometown Akron, Ohio, and a public school the foundation helps run there, the I Promise School, focuses on children who struggle academically. His opinions are covered as news, given far more weight than those of almost any other athlete.“Hopefully I made an impact enough so people appreciate what I did, and still appreciate what I did off the floor as well, even when I’m done,” James said in an interview. “But I don’t live for that. I live for my family, for my friends and my community that needs that voice.”Basketball Is the ‘Main Thing’In early 2002, James was a high school junior and on the cover of Sports Illustrated. News didn’t travel as quickly as it does now. Not everyone had cellphones, and the ones they had couldn’t livestream videos of whatever anyone did. Social media meant chat rooms on AOL or Yahoo. Facebook had yet to launch, and the deluge of social networking apps was years away.“Thank God I didn’t have social media; that’s all I can say,” James said in October when asked to reflect on his entry into the league.As a teenage star, he was spared the incessant gaze of social media and the bullying and harsh criticism that most likely would have come with it.But social media, in its many changing forms, has also helped people express their personalities and share their lives with others. It lets them define themselves — something particularly useful for public figures whose stories get told one way or another.James began thinking about that early in his career.His media and production firm, now called the SpringHill Company, made a documentary about James and his high school teammates titled “More Than a Game” in 2008. It also developed “The Shop,” an HBO show James sometimes appears on with celebrity guests, including the former President Barack Obama and the rapper Travis Scott, talking like friends in a barbershop.James has built a portfolio of movies and television shows that have expanded his influence beyond basketball.Coley Brown for The New York TimesJames likes to say that he always keeps “the main thing the main thing” — meaning that no matter what else is happening in his life, he prioritizes basketball. He honors the thing that created his fame.He led his teams to the N.B.A. finals in eight consecutive years and won championships with three different franchises. He was chosen for the league’s Most Valuable Player Award four times, and he has dished the fourth-most assists in N.B.A. history.James’s talent meant it didn’t take long for him to become the face of the N.B.A. He has mostly embraced that, capitalizing on an era when sports fandom was no longer about sitting down to watch a game so much as it was about catching small bites of the most compelling moments.“People’s interest in athletes moves very quickly, especially with the N.B.A. season,” said Omar Raja, who in 2014 founded House of Highlights, an Instagram account for viral sports moments, because he wanted to share clips of the Miami Heat during James’s time playing there with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.“LeBron’s Instagram stories would do as well as his poster dunks, and you were like, ‘This is crazy,’” Raja said.House of Highlights reposted two videos from James’s Instagram stories in May 2019. One showed James and a former teammate dancing in a yard. Another showed James and friends, including Russell Westbrook, smoking cigars. Both videos outperformed anything that happened in the playoffs.‘I Wish I Could Do Normal Things’James has used his fame to further business opportunities and build his financial portfolio. He has used it to both shield his children and prepare them for growing up in his shadow.He has used it for social activism, most notably in speaking about Black civil rights and racism. That began in 2012, when he and his Heat teammates wore hooded sweatshirts and posted a group photo on social media after the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager who was wearing a hoodie when he was shot and killed in Florida. The Heat decided to transfer some of their spotlight to the national conversation about racism that emerged.James wearing Eric Garner’s words “I Can’t Breathe” at a pregame warm up in 2014. Garner, a Black man, died after the police in New York put him a chokehold.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesBlack N.B.A. players have a long history of speaking out or demonstrating against racism and discrimination: Abdul-Jabbar and the Boston Celtics’ Bill Russell were vocal about the racist dangers they faced in the 1960s and ’70s. But what made the actions of James and his teammates stand out was that the superstar athletes of the ’90s and early 2000s — Michael Jordan, most notably — had often shied away from overt activism.What James chooses to talk about (or not talk about) draws notice.In 2019, when a Houston Rockets executive angered the Chinese government by expressing support for Hong Kong, James was criticized for not speaking out against China’s human rights abuses. James said he did not know enough to talk about them, but some skeptics accused him of avoiding the subject to protect his financial interests in China.And in 2020, when protests swept the country after the police killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, both of whom were Black, the N.B.A. made social justice part of its ethos. James used many of his news conferences that season to discuss racism and police violence against Black people.The attention to James’s words separates him from others, as does the attention to his life.“I don’t want to say it ever becomes too much, but there are times when I wish I could do normal things,” James said Thursday while standing in an arena hallway in Indianapolis about an hour after the Lakers beat the Pacers there. A member of a camera crew that has been following him for the past few years filmed him as he spoke.“I wish I could just walk outside,” James said. “I wish I could just, like, walk into a movie theater and sit down and go to the concession stand and get popcorn. I wish I could just go to an amusement park just like regular people. I wish I could go to Target sometimes and walk into Starbucks and have my name on the cup just like regular people.”He added: “I’m not sitting here complaining about it, of course not. But it can be challenging at times.”James grew up without stable housing or much money, but his life now is not like most people’s because of the money he has made through basketball and business (he’s estimated to be worth more than $1 billion), and because of the extraordinary athletic feats he makes look so easy. Once in a while, as when he’s on the phone with his mother, he manages to come off like just another guy.James speaks at the opening ceremony for the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, in 2018.Phil Long/Associated PressAnother example: In October 2018, during his first Lakers training camp, James gave up wine as part of a preseason diet regimen. He was asked if abstaining had affected his body.“Yeah, it made me want wine more,” James said, relatably. “But I feel great. I feel great. I did a two-week cleanse and gave up a lot of things for 14 days.”James had also quit gluten, dairy, artificial sugars and all alcohol for those two weeks, he said.What was left?“In life?” James said. “Air.”There to See HimThe past few seasons have been challenging for James on the court. He is playing as well as he ever has, but the Lakers have struggled since winning a championship in 2020.They missed the playoffs last season and are in 12th place in the Western Conference, though they have played better recently. James, his coaches and his teammates all insist that he spends more time thinking about how to get the Lakers into the playoffs than about breaking the scoring record.Still, Madison Square Garden, one of his favorite arenas, buzzed on Tuesday night. Because of him.Celebrities, fans and media came to watch him, just as they did when he was a constant in the N.B.A. finals.He taped a pregame interview with Michael Strahan courtside. Then he went through his pregame warm-up, shooting from different spots on the court, working against an assistant coach, who tried to defend him. He took a few seconds to dance near the 3-point line as he waited for someone to pass the ball back to him.He was in what he’s made into a comfortable place: the center of the basketball universe. More

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      Mat Ishbia to Acquire Phoenix Suns and Mercury For $4 Billion

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      Ishbia, the chief executive of United Wholesale Mortgage, would replace Robert Sarver as the teams’ majority owner. Sarver was pushed to sell amid a workplace misconduct scandal.Mat Ishbia, the chief executive of United Wholesale Mortgage, and his brother, Justin Ishbia, have agreed to buy a majority stake in the N.B.A.’s Phoenix Suns and the W.N.B.A.’s Phoenix Mercury in a deal that values the teams at $4 billion.Mat Ishbia and Robert Sarver, the majority owner of the teams, announced the agreement Tuesday night. Sarver had said he would sell the teams in September, after an N.B.A. investigation found that he had mistreated employees over many years, including by using racist language.The deal is for more than 50 percent ownership, including all of Sarver’s stake. It will not be finalized until it is approved by the N.B.A.’s board of governors.“Mat is the right leader to build on franchise legacies of winning and community support and shepherd the Suns and Mercury into the next era,” Sarver said in a statement.The valuation of $4 billion is about 10 times what a Sarver-led group paid for the teams in 2004 and would be a league record. The previous high price was Joe Tsai’s full acquisition of the Nets in 2019 that valued the franchise at $2.35 billion. It is the second-most expensive acquisition of an American sports franchise in history, behind only the sale of the N.F.L.’s Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion earlier this year.In September, the N.B.A. suspended Sarver for a year and fined him $10 million — the maximum allowed — after an investigation found that he had used racial slurs and treated female employees inequitably over many years. The punishment generated significant backlash, with players and fans saying that it was not harsh enough. Amid that pressure, Sarver said he would sell the Phoenix basketball teams, citing an “unforgiving climate.”Ishbia, 42, who played for Michigan State’s men’s basketball team, has wanted to buy a professional sports team for some time. Justin Ishbia is a managing partner at the Chicago-based investing firm Shore Capital. Last month, Mat Ishbia announced that he was interested in purchasing the N.F.L.’s Washington Commanders. He had also bid for the Broncos before they were sold in June to the Walton and Penner families.Ishbia began researching the Suns organization after Sarver decided to sell his stake, and he spent time in Phoenix during the past two months to better understand the market, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Ishbia “fell in love” with the market and decided to aggressively pursue purchasing the team, the person said. Ishbia lives in the Detroit area, where United Wholesale Mortgage is based, and would not move to Phoenix if he is approved to buy the teams, the person said.In a statement Tuesday, Ishbia said he was “extremely excited” about the deal to buy the teams. “I have loved experiencing the energy of the Valley over the last few months,” he said. “Basketball is at the core of my life.”Ishbia was a guard for Michigan State, where he won a national championship in 2000. He told Crain’s Detroit Business in 2020 that he was the “14th best player on a 14-person team.” After graduating from business school at Michigan State in 2003, Ishbia began to work for United Wholesale Mortgage, which his father, Jeff Ishbia, founded in 1986. Mat Ishbia was named chief executive in 2013, and the company went public in 2021.Now Ishbia hopes to take over the Suns organization, which has been in the spotlight since ESPN published a story in November 2021 in which several current and former employees accused Sarver of fostering an inappropriate work culture. The N.B.A. commissioned an investigation, conducted by an independent law firm, which found that Sarver “clearly violated common workplace standards.”According to the investigators’ report, Sarver used a racial slur at least five times; told a pregnant employee that she would be “unable to do her job upon becoming a mother”; and often made crude jokes about sex and commented on women’s bodies.In one instance from 2011, according to the report, Sarver brought a female employee to tears after berating her about a video she had produced. Later, Sarver asked the employee, “Why do all the women cry around here so much?”Sarver said that while he disagreed with parts of the report, he accepted the league’s decision and apologized for his “words and actions that offended our employees.” Suns guard Chris Paul was among the players who called for a tougher punishment than the fine and suspension the N.B.A. issued. As pressure mounted, Sarver announced that he would sell the Suns and the Mercury.The Suns have been among the best teams in the Western Conference for the past three seasons. Led by the star guard Devin Booker, they made the N.B.A. finals in 2021 and lost in six games to the Milwaukee Bucks. During the 2021-22 season, they set a franchise record for wins in a regular season with 64 but lost in the second round of the playoffs.This season, Phoenix had a 19-12 record as of Tuesday afternoon, tied for the most wins in the West.The Mercury, who share a practice facility with the Suns, have not missed the playoffs since 2012. They won the W.N.B.A. championship in 2014 and lost to Chicago in the W.N.B.A. finals in 2021. Last season, the Mercury went 15-21 as they coped with the absence of one of their stars, Brittney Griner.Griner was in custody in Russia from Feb. 17 until Dec. 8, when the U.S. State Department negotiated her release through a prisoner swap. She had been detained outside of Moscow when customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage. Griner was convicted on drug charges and began serving a nine-year term in a prison colony this November. The State Department said in May that she had been “wrongfully detained.”Upon returning to the United States, Griner was taken to a military hospital in Texas that helps soldiers and civilians dealing with trauma with their recoveries. Griner left to go home on Friday and rode home with three members of the Mercury organization who surprised her at the airport: Diana Taurasi, a fellow star player; Vince Kozar, the team president; and Jim Pitman, the general manager. More

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      Qataris Say Criticism of Country Amid World Cup Is Rooted in Stereotypes

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      Many in the country say the barrage of criticism about its human rights record and the exploitation of migrant workers is laced with discrimination and hypocrisy.When the singer Rod Stewart was offered more than $1 million to perform in Qatar, he said, he turned it down.“It’s not right to go,” Mr. Stewart told the The Sunday Times of London recently, joining a string of public figures to declare boycotts or express condemnation of Qatar as the Gulf nation hosts the soccer World Cup.In the prelude to the tournament, which started this past weekend, Qatar has faced an increasing barrage of criticism over its human rights record, including the authoritarian monarchy’s criminalization of homosexuality and the well-documented abuse of migrant workers.Yet Mr. Stewart voiced no such disapproval when he performed in 2010 in Dubai or 2017 in Abu Dhabi, cities in the nearby United Arab Emirates — a country that also has an authoritarian monarchy and has faced allegations of human rights violations but that has more successfully cultivated a Western-friendly image. Mr. Stewart declined a request for comment through his public relations firm.That kind of dissonance is one that has increasingly frustrated Qataris as they face the glare of the international spotlight that trains on each World Cup. The tournament has brought a disproportionate burst of negative coverage, they say, and spawned descriptions of their country and people that feel outdated and stereotypical, painting an image of Qatar that they barely recognize.Qataris say that they are calling out the double standards. Why, they ask, do Europeans buy natural gas from Qatar if they find the country so abhorrent that they cannot watch soccer there? Why don’t some of the international figures who have spoken out against Qatar do the same for the United Arab Emirates?They have also said that they hope the first World Cup to be held in an Arab nation will challenge stereotypes about Qataris, Arabs and Muslims.Instead, it sometimes seems to have done the opposite.A “fan village” in Doha, made up of shipping containers converted into small accommodation units.Erin Schaff/The New York TimesIn a speech last month, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, called the opprobrium “an unprecedented campaign that no host country has ever faced.” Speaking to a German newspaper, the Qatari foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said that some of the criticism was racist and arrogant.Organizers have said that at least 15,000 journalists are expected to visit Qatar, a country with a population of three million, for the World Cup. The torrent of reporting has been overwhelming for a country that rarely makes global news. That is partly why Qatari officials wanted to host the tournament. It fits into a broader, decades-long push by Qatar’s rulers to turn the once-obscure country into a prominent global player, a strategy funded by vast natural gas wealth.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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      What to Know About Kyrie Irving’s Antisemitic Movie Post and the Fallout

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      Irving, the Nets guard, has faced backlash since he promoted an antisemitic film on social media last month.Nets guard Kyrie Irving is facing backlash for posting a link on Twitter to an antisemitic film last month.For a week, he declined to apologize or say that he held no antisemitic beliefs, prompting the Nets on Nov. 3 to suspend him indefinitely. He has since apologized, but the fallout continues: On Nov. 4, Nike condemned hate and antisemitism, and suspended its relationship with Irving immediately.Irving, a seven-time N.B.A. All-Star, has been with the Nets since 2019. He won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, but over the past few years he has often been discussed more for his off-court views. In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, he suggested that the Earth might be flat, and over the past year he had refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.Here is what you need to know.Here’s what you need to know:What did Irving post on Twitter?When did the backlash start?How did Irving respond?Why did the Nets suspend Irving?What did Irving say in his apology?Why did Nike cut ties with Irving after he apologized?Will Irving play for the Nets again?What did Irving post on Twitter?On Oct. 27, Irving tweeted a link to “Hebrew to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” a 2018 film driven by antisemitic tropes about Jewish people lying about their origins. Among its false and outlandish claims is the assertion that the Holocaust never happened.Irving also made an Instagram post with a screenshot of the film’s rental page on Amazon, which he had linked to on Twitter. Neither post included a caption or comment from Irving.The Instagram post was part of a story, a format that expires after 24 hours; the tweet was deleted Oct. 30.In a letter dated Nov. 4, the Anti-Defamation League and the Nets called on Amazon to take down or add explanatory context to the film and a related book, writing that they were “designed to inflame hatred and, now that it was popularized by Mr. Irving, will lead directly to the harm of Jews.”When did the backlash start?On Oct. 28, Rolling Stone magazine reported on some of the film’s antisemitic messages. Many other news media outlets began reporting on the article and Irving’s tweet.That night, the Nets’ owner Joe Tsai posted about the situation on Twitter, adding that it was “bigger than basketball”:“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation. 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 Oct. 29, the N.B.A. released a statement condemning hate speech, but it did not name Irving. On Nov. 1, the N.B.A. players’ union, the National Basketball Players Association, issued a statement condemning antisemitism, but like the N.B.A., it did not name Irving, who is one of the union’s vice presidents.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 instances of hate speech on social media and 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 after he defended his support of an antisemitic movie. His behavior appalled and frightened many of his Jewish fans.Midterms: No major contest this year has been shaped by concerns of antisemitism more prominently than the Pennsylvania governor’s race.How did Irving respond?Irving addressed his posts publicly for the first time Oct. 29, after the Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center. During a contentious news conference, Irving doubled down on his support of the film and an antigovernment conspiracy theory promoted by the Infowars host Alex Jones.“History is not supposed to be hidden from anybody,” Irving said. He added: “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.”Irving accused an ESPN reporter of trying to “dehumanize” him as he and the reporter argued about whether Irving had “promoted” the film by posting about it.The Nets played the Pacers again Oct. 31 at Barclays Center and faced the Bulls in Chicago on Nov. 1, but the team did not make Irving available to reporters after either game. General Manager Sean Marks said the team did not “want to cause more fuss right now, more interaction with people.” (The Nets, who have struggled on the court, also fired their head coach, Steve Nash, on Nov. 1, but Marks said the move was not related to Irving’s situation.)On Nov. 2, Irving announced with the Anti-Defamation League that he would donate $500,000 to anti-hate causes. The Nets said they would do the same.“I am aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community and I take responsibility,” Irving said in a statement. “I do not believe everything said in the documentary was true or reflects my morals and principles.”Why did the Nets suspend Irving?Irving last played for the Nets in a Nov. 1 game against the Chicago Bulls. He scored just 4 points in 33 minutes.Dustin Satloff/Getty ImagesBy Nov. 3, Irving had not apologized, and he had not been clear about what content he disagreed with in the film. N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver said he would meet with Irving soon.“Kyrie Irving made a reckless decision to post a link to a film containing deeply offensive antisemitic material,” Silver said in a statement. He added: “I am disappointed that he has not offered an unqualified apology and more specifically denounced the vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize.”About 30 minutes after Silver’s statement, Irving spoke to reporters at a Nets practice: “I didn’t mean to cause any harm. 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,” he said. “Some points made in there that were unfortunate.”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.”Within hours, the Nets suspended him for at least five games, saying he was “unfit to be associated” with the team. “We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity — but failed — to clarify,” the Nets said in a statement.“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.”Marks, the general manager, said Irving would need to meet with Jewish leaders, go through counseling and meet with the team, among other measures, before he would be allowed to return.What did Irving say in his apology?Hours after he was suspended Nov. 3, Irving apologized in an Instagram post, saying he “had no intentions to disrespect any Jewish cultural history regarding the Holocaust or perpetuate any hate.”“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.”Why did Nike cut ties with Irving after he apologized?Nike condemned antisemitism on Nov. 4 and suspended its relationship with Irving “effective immediately.” The company had produced his signature sneakers since 2014.Omar Rawlings/Getty ImagesIrving’s apology seemed to come too late for Nike, which suspended its relationship with him “effective immediately” on Nov. 4 and announced it would not launch his next signature sneaker, 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. “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”Nike had produced Irving’s popular signature sneaker line since 2014; his contract expires in October 2023. One marketing expert said brands have become more conscious about their values in recent years.Will Irving play for the Nets again?The Nets said his suspension would last at least five games, meaning he cannot return until at least Nov. 13, when the Nets face the Lakers in Los Angeles.Marks, the general manager, said Irving’s apology was a “step in the right direction” but “certainly not enough.” It’s not clear if Irving will agree to meet with Jewish leaders or fulfill other mandates from the team. He has not spoken publicly since his apology.Some fans may not be ready to welcome him back, if that time comes. More than one million Jews live in New York City, and roughly 60 percent are in Brooklyn, where the Nets play at Barclays Center on Atlantic Avenue.Ben Berke, a Nets fan who lives in Astoria, Queens, told The Times that Irving’s apology was an “improvement.”“But I don’t want him on the team anymore,” he said.Marks said Nov. 4 that the Nets had not considered dropping Irving from the team.Reporting was contributed by 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