Former NBA MVP Kevin Durant has called out his own team as the Brooklyn Nets suspended team-mate Kyrie Irving for his recent controversy surrounding antisemitism. Irving has been suspended for five games without pay after he failed to apologise for posting an antisemitic video on his social media profiles. The 30-year-old guard held an impromptu press conference at practice on Thursday and said; "I apologise".
Durant was talking to the media during the Nets' shootaround in Washington ahead of their upcoming game against the Wizards. When asked about his opinion on Irving’s recent comments, the two-time NBA champion expressed that the Nets should have kept the matters in close quarters.
The 34-year-old said, “I ain’t here to judge nobody or talk down on nobody for how they feel, their views or anything. 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.”
Within an hour, Durant followed up via a tweet to clarify his statement. The post said, “Just wanna clarify the statements I made at shootaround, I see some people are confused,” he said. “I don’t condone hate speech or anti-Semitism (sic), I’m about spreading love always. Our game Unites people and I wanna make sure that’s at the forefront.”
Check the tweet here:
Kyrie Irving will be out of action against Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers. Brooklyn will be dependent on Kevin Durant to carry the load and possibly improve on their horrific start. The Nets have won just two of their first eight games ahead of their game against Washington.