The Nets suspended guard Kyrie Irving indefinitely Thursday for his “failure to disavow antisemitism” since he posted a link to an antisemitic movie on Twitter last week, though he had said there were some things in the movie he did not agree with. “I didn’t mean to cause any harm,” Irving said after a Nets practice Thursday. “I’m not the one that made the documentary.” Irving declined to apologize for the post, and when asked what specific points in the movie he did not agree with, he 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 Nets said in a statement that Irving’s suspension would last at least five games, adding that Irving’s “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.” Last week, Irving posted a link on Twitter to the movie “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.