Nets GM Sean Marks hasn't spoken with Kyrie Irving since suspension
Nets GM Sean Marks speaks to the media before a game against the Knicks at Barclays Center on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Neither general manager Sean Marks nor new head coach Jacque Vaughn have spoken to suspended Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, even as the team is quickly approaching decision time on whether to reinstate Irving after he failed to apologize for posting a link to an antisemitic movie.
Irving eventually recanted in a written statement posted to his Instagram but, before that, doubled down on his decision to post the clip in two separate news conferences — including one where he did not “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs,” according to the team. In light of his actions, which resulted in public censure from commissioner Adam Silver, the Nets opted to serve Irving with an unpaid suspension for a minimum of five games and outlined a series of steps he’ll need to take to earn reinstatement.
The Nets' game against the Knicks Wednesday was the fourth Irving has missed, with the fifth coming Saturday in Los Angeles against the Clippers — though that’s far from guaranteed to mark the end of Irving’s punishment.
Asked if he’s spoken to Irving, Marks said that he’s only spoken to his representatives.
“On the Kyrie front, when we have news to share and updates, we will do so at the appropriate time,” Marks said Wednesday as the Nets introduced Vaughn as their permanent head coach. “As of now there's nothing to share.”
Though Irving removed the original tweet and apologized via Instagram post — he called parts of the documentary “hateful” — the Nets are also asking him to complete a series of requirements: a public, ostensibly vocal, apology; a donation of $500,000 to anti-hate groups; sensitivity and antisemitism training; and meetings with Jewish leaders, Silver and Nets owner Joe Tsai. Irving met with Silver Tuesday.
While Marks spoke, a group of about three dozen people protested in Irving’s defense in front of Barclays Center. The group, members of the Black Hebrew Israelites, were led by a man with a bullhorn who said, in part, that Irving “is being persecuted, he’s being hated by society today.” A representative from BSE Global, which owns the arena, declined to comment.
The movie that Irving posted, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake up Black America,” is rife with antisemitic tropes and espouses beliefs central to the Black Hebrew Israelites, of which “some, but not all, are outspoken anti-Semites and racists,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Vaughn said he hasn’t spoken to his embattled point guard but indicated that could change now that his interim label has been removed.
“I thought in the capacity that I was serving it wasn’t my place to,” he said. “I’ve always understood my boundaries as an assistant coach. That could change going forward in the position that I’m in now.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
