Kyrie Irving has been the talk of the news cycle and unfortunately it has nothing to do with his prodigious basketball talent.
When he decided that he no longer to wanted to play with LeBron James in the summer of 2017 , that was the genesis of the shift of how he was perceived , particularly in the sports media. Since then , and at times partially because of his own actions, has been a consistent target of derision from the media and that rancor has spilled over into the mindset of many a sports fan.
The Kyrie Irving public rage meter was renewed again when he decided that he did not want to take the COVID-19 vaccination ( it is funny how “my body, my choice” did not apply in this instance) and it has proceeded nearly non-stop since then. With his recent retweeting of a movie that has been deemed “antisemetic” , without stating how, Irving has been taking slings and arrows from all sides.
The Brooklyn Nets suspended Irving for at least five games. Kyrie issue an apology hours after news of the suspension broke and then agreed to make a not-so-small donation of $500,000 to the ADL. However that was not good enough for these rabble-rousers. They had to extract their pound of flesh. The Nets then constructed six criteria that must be met if Kyrie wants to be reinstated.
Never have we seen such an expansive, and frankly, humiliating, list of requirements of a player to get back on the field of play. Players have committed felonious acts and have not had to fulfill this many requirements to resume their careers. The Players involved in the “Malice in the Palace had to do far less. What black-first organizations did Riley Cooper have to donate to or meet with? NASCAR driver Kyle Larson had to jump through far less hoops and hone he returned to the sports he got to do so in one of the best organizations in the sport, Hendrick Motorsports. Police officers who hurt and kill black people can get back to the job , without performing this many feats, if any.
With these stipulations the Nets have imposed on Kyrie Irving, the Nets seem more interested in the demoralizing and what amounts to public groveling , rather than building a true bridge to understanding and a cooperative relationship going forth. Should he decide not to bother with these tasks, the Nets get what that they have wanted since the off-season, which is to get rid of Kyrie Irving.
