Kyrie is dirty rotten no good and we have schadenfreude…?

The Mort Report

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It can be whatever political view you want. It doesn't matter, really. The point is that Kyrie continues to get support from parts of his community. Whatever side of the aisle is irrelevant.
I guess you gotta think about it like is it a good look to post an image of a black man being lynched while being whipped by a white man?
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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I guess you gotta think about it like is it a good look to post an image of a black man being lynched while being whipped by a white man?
If the context is that members of the black community feel like the NBA has neutered black athletes? That they feel other NBA players are turning their back on Kyrie instead of supporting him?

Yeah. I think it's incredibly relevant to discuss. But others think it's me promoting hate, so I removed it. I can see where that road is headed.
 

The Mort Report

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If the context is that members of the black community feel like the NBA has neutered black athletes? That they feel other NBA players are turning their back on Kyrie instead of supporting him?

Yeah. I think it's incredibly relevant to discuss. But others think it's me promoting hate, so I removed it. I can see where that road is headed.
I get what you were thinking by posting it. It's an important part of the conversation that sucks, but the imagery was just so bad. It all depends on what the person sharing the meme thinks. If parts of the black community are sharing this because they agree with what Kyrie said its promoting hate on Jewish people and they need to be condemned.
 

Van Everyman

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Jaylen weighs in extensively as a VP of the NBPA:

Brown told the Globe Monday morning that the NBPA believes those conditions are too stringent, especially when there is no guideline that addresses social media posts in the collective bargaining agreement. He said the NBPA is expected to appeal.

“I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic,” Brown said. “I don’t think people in our governing bodies think he’s antisemitic. He made a mistake. We understand from an outside perspective how important sensitivity is to not condone hate speech and not condone anything of that nature. It’s sensitivity to the dialect around that. We don’t want to stand up for somebody in order to not condemn hate speech, but I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic. And hopefully the NBA feels the same way.”
Brown said Irving’s future and how the league approaches the issue of expression on social media could be clarified after Irving’s meeting with Silver.

“There is an interesting distinction between what somebody says verbally and what somebody posts as a link on a platform with no description behind it,” Brown said. “Some people will argue there’s no difference and some people will argue there is a difference. There’s no language in our CBA. There’s no rules against it. This is uncharted territory for everybody, and everybody is trying to figure out the difference between the two.”
“It’s definitely a conversation that’s going on,” Brown said. “I told people that are participating in this ongoing discussion that everybody is watching. I think there’s a big meeting on Tuesday amongst Adam, Kyrie, and whomever they decided to be there.

“I’ve been talking to Kyrie, I’ve talked to Adam, I talked to Tamika, I’ve talked to pretty much everybody about this situation.

“But I’m expecting the NBPA to appeal the suspension from Brooklyn. The terms, etc., that went into his return. The terms for his return, they seem like a lot, and a lot of the players expressed discomfort with the terms.”
“He made a mistake. He posted something,” Brown said. “There was no distinction. Maybe we can move forward, but the terms in which he has to fulfill to return, I think not just speaking for me, speaking as a vice president from a lot of our players, we didn’t agree with the terms that was required for him to come back and we’re waiting for this Tuesday meeting to happen to see what comes of it. But we’ll go from there. That’s all I’ll say.”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/07/sports/jaylen-brown-kyrie-irving/
Edit: forgot the link
 
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lexrageorge

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Well, as VP of the NBAPA, it's not surprising he would advocate for the player. It's a big part of his role as the union guy.
 

kazuneko

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I need to sleep on it, but this may be it for me as a Celtics fan.
I feel like that's a huge overreaction. This is called being a VP of the player's association and doing a solid job of advocacy. Granted, I hope the league reinforces the idea that there should not be any distinction between verbal support and links through social media, but as a representative of the union him bringing this is up is fully valid. In one way it actually illustrates how different he is from Kyrie. Jaylen, unlike the self-proclaimed "beacon of light" (Can we abbreviate Kyrie as BoL from now on?) is not a moron...
 

luckiestman

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I feel like that's a huge overreaction. This is called being a VP of the player's association and doing a solid job of advocacy. Granted, I hope the league reinforces the idea that there should not be any distinction between verbal support and links through social media, but as a representative of the union him bringing this is up is fully valid. In one way it actually illustrates how different he is from Kyrie. Jaylen, unlike the self-proclaimed "beacon of light" (Can we abbreviate Kyrie as BoL from now on?) is not a moron...
The sharing links vs making statement is one element. To me, the bullet point checklist is also a big problem from the Union’s POV.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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Well, as VP of the NBAPA, it's not surprising he would advocate for the player. It's a big part of his role as the union guy.
He isn't the only one. The PA seems pretty content to support him.

Kyrie went on his (Instagram) page and apologized. He had a proper apology, in my opinion,” Pelicans veteran and executive committee member Garrett Temple told The Athletic. “He’s been accountable for his actions. At the end of the day, we’re going to let it take its course."
We know Kyrie to be a good person,” Brogdon told The Athletic. “He came back, he apologized, and whatever happens is gonna happen at this point."
CJ McCollum had a very interesting quote about it. Does the bolded phrase sound familiar?

"I know Kyrie personally, I know that he’s not racist, I know that he’s not against any people,” McCollum said. “In general, he’s been a beacon of light and has continued to figure out ways to provide not only educational opportunities, but also resources for people from all walks of life."
 

TripleOT

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Jaylen Brown should be concerned, as a union officia, about a player being suspended over a social media post, but in the Kyrie situation, he was suspended over the totality of the situation: the post, and his subsequent actions after being called out over it.
 

Shaky Walton

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Jaylen's comments when he dropped Kanye's agency were telling, in my opinion.

https://celticswire.usatoday.com/lists/jaylen-brown-on-donda-academy-students-im-going-to-continue-to-fight-for-those-kids/
“What would happen if I stayed?” Jaylen said. “I work hard to be able to have the platform that I have, and use it to be a voice for the voiceless. So to potentially have to sacrifice that platform, I think I made the right decision.
(Emphasis Added.)

Notice what he didn't say.

He didn't say that "if I stayed, I'd be tacitly or even directly supporting an anti-semite, and I cannot in good conscience do that." He left because staying would hurt HIM and HIS ABILITY to use his platform.

Does that make Jaylen Brown an anti-semite? No. He may or may not be. I tend to doubt he is. I hope that I am right.

But one thing we know is that anti-semitism is not THE deal breaker for him. It's not even something he mentioned when he dropped Kanye a few days after one might have thought he would have acted.

And, as a result, unfortunately, I view everything Jaylen says about Kyrie Irving in that light.

It's a good thing for me that I root for the laundry and only turn my back on Boston players, in their capacities as players, with a lot more than the kind of inferences I'm making here.
 

lexrageorge

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He isn't the only one. The PA seems pretty content to support him.
There are 2 distinct questions, only the 2nd of which is relevant in the eyes of the NBA Players Association:

1.) Was Kyrie wrong?

2.) Are the Nets allowed to suspend Kyrie under the terms of the CBA?

The reality is that the owner of the Nets is bound by the terms of the CBA that the owners as a group willingly granted to the players, and vice versa. And I would expect Jaylen Brown and the NBAPA leadership to advocate for the player if there is a dispute that centers around the terms of the CBA. Ultimately, it may be an arbitrator that decides whether the Nets have the right to suspend Kyrie.
 

kazuneko

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Jaylen's comments when he dropped Kanye's agency were telling, in my opinion.
https://celticswire.usatoday.com/lists/jaylen-brown-on-donda-academy-students-im-going-to-continue-to-fight-for-those-kids/
(Emphasis Added.)
Notice what he didn't say.
He didn't say that "if I stayed, I'd be tacitly or even directly supporting an anti-semite, and I cannot in good conscience do that." He left because staying would hurt HIM and HIS ABILITY to use his platform.
Yeah, that is disappointing. I guess the mystery about Jaylen, and it’s been discussed before, is why he bothers to associate with people like Kanye (and Kyrie) at all. Kanye has had an impressive music career, but every time he opens his mouth about any other topic he comes off as both crazy and stupid. Brown is smart enough to see through that, and yet he signed with Donda, an agency who literally had Antonio Brown -of all people- as it’s president. I mean, Jesus, why would a smart, young man like Brown choose to entrust his career to two total head cases like Brown and Kanye?
 

luckiestman

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There are 2 distinct questions, only the 2nd of which is relevant in the eyes of the NBA Players Association:

1.) Was Kyrie wrong?

2.) Are the Nets allowed to suspend Kyrie under the terms of the CBA?

The reality is that the owner of the Nets is bound by the terms of the CBA that the owners as a group willingly granted to the players, and vice versa. And I would expect Jaylen Brown and the NBAPA leadership to advocate for the player if there is a dispute that centers around the terms of the CBA. Ultimately, it may be an arbitrator that decides whether the Nets have the right to suspend Kyrie.
they probably have the right to suspend him but I dnot know about an indefinite suspension and litigating every word of his apology and then demanding a bulleted list.
 

JakeRae

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I feel like that's a huge overreaction. This is called being a VP of the player's association and doing a solid job of advocacy. Granted, I hope the league reinforces the idea that there should not be any distinction between verbal support and links through social media, but as a representative of the union him bringing this is up is fully valid. In one way it actually illustrates how different he is from Kyrie. Jaylen, unlike the self-proclaimed "beacon of light" (Can we abbreviate Kyrie as BoL from now on?) is not a moron...
Jaylen went way past appropriately supporting a player or enforcing CBA rights. He went out of his way to repeatedly declare Kyrie isn’t antisemitic, and to state a belief that this is just about “sensitivity around dialect.” His statement clearly implies a view that Kyrie is being victimized for an “honest mistake” rather than being punished for a thing he did. He is denying the underlying conduct, not protesting the punishment. And combined with the halfway statements on Kanye that he sort of fixed, he gets no benefit of the doubt here and I have to, in particular, wonder why Jaylen doesn’t believe Kyrie is antisemitic.
 

Mystic Merlin

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Jaylen went way past appropriately supporting a player or enforcing CBA rights. He went out of his way to repeatedly declare Kyrie isn’t antisemitic, and to state a belief that this is just about “sensitivity around dialect.” His statement clearly implies a view that Kyrie is being victimized for an “honest mistake” rather than being punished for a thing he did. He is denying the underlying conduct, not protesting the punishment. And combined with the halfway statements on Kanye that he sort of fixed, he gets no benefit of the doubt here and I have to, in particular, wonder why Jaylen doesn’t believe Kyrie is antisemitic.
I can tell you the best theory right now: Jaylen personally likes Kyrie/Kyrie has been nice to him. This was discussed several days ago, but Raja Bell told Bill Simmons on a podcast that he doesn’t believe Kyrie is a ‘bad guy’ because Kyrie was nice to his kids and never acted out in his interactions with Kyrie.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Yeah, that is disappointing. I guess the mystery about Jaylen, and it’s been discussed before, is why he bothers to associate with people like Kanye (and Kyrie) at all. Kanye has had an impressive music career, but every time he opens his mouth about any other topic he comes off as both crazy and stupid. Brown is smart enough to see through that, and yet he signed with Donda, an agency who literally had Antonio Brown -of all people- as it’s president. I mean, Jesus, why would a smart, young man like Brown choose to entrust his career to two total head cases like Brown and Kanye?
Where else is JB going to go if he's looking for an Black-run company to assist with his marketing? Klutch?

JB is a, what, 26 YO black male who is worth probably a hundred million dollars. He grew up in Marietta GA, went to a high school with something like 45% of its population being free and reduced lunch; and had a high school teacher say when he was in his early teens that in five years, the teacher would be finding JB in the Cobb County jail.

It's not like JB has a ton of peers who aren't entertainers or athletes. It's not surprising to me that he would look up or want to be associated with Kayne.

I think we downplay how different his life is than anything we can even begin to imagine.

Jaylen went way past appropriately supporting a player or enforcing CBA rights. He went out of his way to repeatedly declare Kyrie isn’t antisemitic, and to state a belief that this is just about “sensitivity around dialect.” His statement clearly implies a view that Kyrie is being victimized for an “honest mistake” rather than being punished for a thing he did. He is denying the underlying conduct, not protesting the punishment. And combined with the halfway statements on Kanye that he sort of fixed, he gets no benefit of the doubt here and I have to, in particular, wonder why Jaylen doesn’t believe Kyrie is antisemitic.
JB did not "declare" that Kyrie isn't anti-semetic, he said (twice), "I don't believe that Kyrie is anti-semitic". He also said that he's talked to "everyone" and doesn't think "people anyone in the governing bodies" believe Kyrie is anti-semitic.

I'm sure Kyrie has a good reputation around the players because he works a lot - and gives a lot of money - to some underserved communities.

I'm not saying any of this to defend Kyrie. I would not be surprised if Kyrie tapped into one of the various black nationalistic schools of thought that contains a heavy dose of anti-semiticism. But am I saying (1) JB is doing his job as VP of the players association and he raises an interesting point with regards to discipline for posting versus amplifying and (2) JB is still super young and whatever he believes now probably will not what he believes in two or five or ten years.
 

kazuneko

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I can tell you the best theory right now: Jaylen personally likes Kyrie/Kyrie has been nice to him. This was discussed several days ago, but Raja Bell told Bill Simmons on a podcast that he doesn’t believe Kyrie is a ‘bad guy’ because Kyrie was nice to his kids and never acted out in his interactions with Kyrie.
Yeah, it would be great if “nice guys” who are morons didn’t feel the need to share their moronic thoughts every chance they get.
I mean, from a certain perspective I get it. I think we’ve all dealt with people that we otherwise like that have stupid ideas. Sadly, in the social media era, the whole world gets to hear this crap. I honestly think Kyrie is dumb enough to not even understand how difficult it would be to extricate the antisemitism from the Black Israelite nonsense he linked to. He just liked it because it supports a narrative (“that black people are the true chosen people of God” ) that left him inspired, and, sadly, he doesn’t understand anti-semitism any more than he understands physics or immunology. He’s just an opinionated moron who can’t comprehend the implications of any of the ideas that he encounters through social media. In that sense, he’s not just a propagator of misinformation, he’s a victim as well. And, to be clear, this doesn’t absolve him of responsibility. Its just that unfortunately this is an issue that’s not just about anti-semiticism, but also about a much newer problem: online misinformation and it’s corrosive effect on the culture.
 
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bankshot1

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Why is it so hard for so man people to unequivocally denounce anti-semitism, and that it is just as hateful and corrosive as any other form of prejudice?

Sadly Tom Lehrer had it right.
 

JakeRae

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I can tell you the best theory right now: Jaylen personally likes Kyrie/Kyrie has been nice to him. This was discussed several days ago, but Raja Bell told Bill Simmons on a podcast that he doesn’t believe Kyrie is a ‘bad guy’ because Kyrie was nice to his kids and never acted out in his interactions with Kyrie.
If a player/owner posted something denying the existence of and atrocities associated with slavery and propagating further racist stereotypes and themes, and then that person repeatedly refused to condemn that content as false/hateful and did so while using turns of phrase associated with the belief in those positions, would anyone accept people coming out and declaring that they didn’t believe that person is racist or that they were a good person who made an honest mistake?
 

Bergs

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Why is it so hard for so man people to unequivocally denounce anti-semitism, and that it is just as hateful and corrosive as any other form of prejudice?

Sadly Tom Lehrer had it right.
To hate all but the "right folks" is an old established rule.
 

ManicCompression

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Yeah, I get the feeling that a lot of people just weren't aware of a common sentiment in the black community, and assumed some sort of intersectionality that isn't there in practice.
In retrospect, spending the last two plus years encouraging/training people to think of individuals as members of groups and projecting political ideals onto those groups rather than viewing them as autonomous beings with their own thoughts, experiences, and opinions - good, bad, and crazy - was not a great idea.
 

lovegtm

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In retrospect, spending the last two plus years encouraging/training people to think of individuals as members of groups and projecting political ideals onto those groups rather than viewing them as autonomous beings with their own thoughts, experiences, and opinions - good, bad, and crazy - was not a great idea.
I make it a rule to stay out of V&N type stuff on SoSH--it's my happy place. However...yeah pretty much that.
 

Strike4

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I think we downplay how different his life is than anything we can even begin to imagine.
This is the answer. There are many layers of the cultural and societal elements in the onion that makes up any one of us. Sometimes there is one of those squishy gray spots on the onion. Sometimes you just cut it off. Sometimes you throw it away.

It's like how old lefties can't bring themselves to criticize Putin even now because of the historical importance of the Soviet myth to the American left.
 

Reverend

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In retrospect, spending the last two plus years encouraging/training people to think of individuals as members of groups and projecting political ideals onto those groups rather than viewing them as autonomous beings with their own thoughts, experiences, and opinions - good, bad, and crazy - was not a great idea.
I make it a rule to stay out of V&N type stuff on SoSH--it's my happy place. However...yeah pretty much that.
Right. Because the stuff you are talking about is a function of the last two years.

Just because you don’t understand that something is going on, perhaps because you avoid it, doesn’t mean it’s not out there.

I don’t even actually think that Kyrie is an adherent to the thought movement in question—though I think he’s an asshat, but there are different flavors—but we’re talking about stuff that’s decades old and you want to attribute to the recent political climate because, what? That’s all you happen to be aware of?

This is empirically incorrect.
 
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ManicCompression

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I don’t even actually think that Kyrie is an adherent to the thought movement in question—though I think he’s an asshat, but there are different flavors—but we’re talking about stuff that’s decades old and you want to attribute to the recent political climate because, what? That’s all you happen to be aware of?
I don't think he is either. I'm not saying his belief system or comments are due to recent political climate. I'm saying that his bizarre, complicated, at times admirable, at times disgusting collection of opinions are evidence that we shouldn't assume things about people on account of the color of their skin, religious affiliation, or other surface level attributes. Somehow a statement like that became heresy in certain areas of the culture in the last few years and sweeping assumptions about large groups of people became the rule. That's empirically correct.
 

Reverend

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I don't think he is either. I'm not saying his belief system or comments are due to recent political climate. I'm saying that his bizarre, complicated, at times admirable, at times disgusting collection of opinions are evidence that we shouldn't assume things about people on account of the color of their skin, religious affiliation, or other surface level attributes. Somehow a statement like that became heresy in certain areas of the culture in the last few years and sweeping assumptions about large groups of people became the rule. That's empirically correct.
The “last few years” part is where you lose me.

I mean, if you want to say that awareness of a lot of things has changed due to changes in the media environment, sure. But I don’t think that it is correct that the things themselves about which people are becoming more aware have experienced such a radical change.

What we are seeing is not a function of, “spending the last two plus years encouraging/training people to think of individuals as members of groups and projecting political ideals onto those groups rather than viewing them as autonomous beings with their own thoughts, experiences, and opinions.” This was already there, just not everyone knew about it.
 

ManicCompression

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The “last few years” part is where you lose me.

I mean, if you want to say that awareness of a lot of things has changed due to changes in the media environment, sure. But I don’t think that it is correct that the things themselves about which people are becoming more aware have experienced such a radical change.

What we are seeing is not a function of, “spending the last two plus years encouraging/training people to think of individuals as members of groups and projecting political ideals onto those groups rather than viewing them as autonomous beings with their own thoughts, experiences, and opinions.” This was already there, just not everyone knew about it.
I don't really understand what you're saying. Awareness of what? and what are we seeing? What's the this that was already there?
 

kazuneko

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Kenny F'ing Powers

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So apparently Kyrie was openly defying Nash’s calls, again and again, just before Nash got fired and Kyrie got suspended.
Now, without Kyrie or Nash, their defensive rating has improved from dead last (118.3), to the second-best in the league in the three games since (98.6). Their net rating has vaulted from third-worst to number 1.

https://nypost.com/2022/11/08/defiant-kyrie-irving-blew-off-steve-nashs-nets-play-calls/amp/
Playing the Wizard and Hornets in 2 of those games - two of the worst offensive teams in the league - probably helps.
 

benhogan

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So apparently Kyrie was openly defying Nash’s calls, again and again, just before Nash got fired and Kyrie got suspended.
Now, without Kyrie or Nash, their defensive rating has improved from dead last (118.3), to the second-best in the league in the three games since (98.6). Their net rating has vaulted from third-worst to number 1.

https://nypost.com/2022/11/08/defiant-kyrie-irving-blew-off-steve-nashs-nets-play-calls/amp/
Part of me wants to see IME go medieval on Kyrie in-game and then in a post-game presser

BUT I would rather see their dysfunction continue since IME may be able to fix their crap. Let that crazy dog lay.
 

joe dokes

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Sources: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Kyrie Irving met this morning and the sides had a productive and understanding visit, paving the way for the Nets and their suspended star to work through his steps on a potential path forward.
I assume that message comes from Kyrie's people.
I hope Silver spent the entire time showing Kyrie newsreel footage from concentration camps' operation and liberation. Then he can watch "Shoah" while naked and hungry in a dark, cold, empty room. And then he can go fuck off.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I need to sleep on it, but this may be it for me as a Celtics fan.
Meh. Jaylen is doing his job as a union rep to protect the players Union. I don’t think he really has an option but to protect the players from future team-imposed penalties that may or may not be related to this issue. It’s either stand up for the Union or step down. He’s in an awkward and probably uncomfortable spot.

Edit: Was catching up on thread and didn’t see this was already addressed. Carry on
 

dhellers

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Where else is JB going to go if he's looking for an Black-run company to assist with his marketing? Klutch?

JB is a, what, 26 YO black male who is worth probably a hundred million dollars. He grew up in Marietta GA, went to a high school with something like 45% of its population being free and reduced lunch; and had a high school teacher say when he was in his early teens that in five years, the teacher would be finding JB in the Cobb County jail.

It's not like JB has a ton of peers who aren't entertainers or athletes. It's not surprising to me that he would look up or want to be associated with Kayne.

I think we downplay how different his life is than anything we can even begin to imagine.


JB did not "declare" that Kyrie isn't anti-semetic, he said (twice), "I don't believe that Kyrie is anti-semitic". He also said that he's talked to "everyone" and doesn't think "people anyone in the governing bodies" believe Kyrie is anti-semitic.

I'm sure Kyrie has a good reputation around the players because he works a lot - and gives a lot of money - to some underserved communities.

I'm not saying any of this to defend Kyrie. I would not be surprised if Kyrie tapped into one of the various black nationalistic schools of thought that contains a heavy dose of anti-semiticism. But am I saying (1) JB is doing his job as VP of the players association and he raises an interesting point with regards to discipline for posting versus amplifying and (2) JB is still super young and whatever he believes now probably will not what he believes in two or five or ten years.
I have mixed feelings. As a Jewish (secular) guy, and a long time Celtic fan, I have nothing but disdain for the-putz (Kyrie).
But as a believer in free speech, I have to ask if the punishment fits the crime.
That is: is Kyrie being paid to "dribble", or to be a role model.
Since it is mostly the former, should him liking anti-semitic crap be suspend-until-further-notice offense?

It's a tough call. JakeRae makes a good point about "what if an owner..." (ala Sterling, or Sarver). They do seem to get punished. So shouldn't a similar standard be held for a player?
But, there is that free speech thing (even gross speech).

So I am kind of in sympathy with Jaylen-as-union-guy position.

I do agree the (player's association) could be more forceful in castigating his arrogant ignorance.
Which might be a very credible threat, as it could cripple his off court earnings (Nike has no obligation to consider Kyrie's free speech, since they are explicitly paying for charisma).
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I have mixed feelings. As a Jewish (secular) guy, and a long time Celtic fan, I have nothing but disdain for the-putz (Kyrie).
But as a believer in free speech, I have to ask if the punishment fits the crime.
That is: is Kyrie being paid to "dribble", or to be a role model.
Since it is mostly the former, should him liking anti-semitic crap be suspend-until-further-notice offense?

It's a tough call. JakeRae makes a good point about "what if an owner..." (ala Sterling, or Sarver). They do seem to get punished. So shouldn't a similar standard be held for a player?
But, there is that free speech thing (even gross speech).

So I am kind of in sympathy with Jaylen-as-union-guy position.

I do agree the (player's association) could be more forceful in castigating his arrogant ignorance.
Which might be a very credible threat, as it could cripple his off court earnings (Nike has no obligation to consider Kyrie's free speech, since they are explicitly paying for charisma).
A couple of things in no particular order.

(1) Free speech is important for society but there's is no right to free speech and play in the NBA.

(2) The players union has every right to use whatever remedies are in the CBA to try to challenge Silver's actions but it's notable that as far as I understand up to this moment, they have not. But JB floating a challenge as a trial balloon is necessary advocacy.

(3) None of us know for sure but count me in the camp that Kyrie's punishment had less to do with amplifying the movie and more to do without sincerely apologize when confronted with the substance. How much that should matter - well that's kind of up to (1) and (2) above.

(4) The six steps laid out by BRK were not very onerous. The $500K is basically a fine and while more than a parking ticket for the rest of us isn't material to Kyrie's finances. I don't think anyone disputes that employers can order their employees to go through sensitivity training and education any time they want. I presume that so long as Kyrie isn't outright hostile, he'll sit through the sessions and check off those boxes. Maybe the most difficult to quantify is the last step (demonstrate "understanding") but I find it difficult to believe that meeting with Joe Tsai won't be short and to the point. I mean it's not like they asked him to write a 4,000 word paper on anti-semiticism.

At any rate, Kryie and the players union have levers they can pull if they really feel aggrieved but I'm guessing people are telling him that he should just go along with stuff and get back on the court.

Having said all of that, the one really fascinating question that could throw this all into chaos (but won't be asked or answered by either side) - did Kryie really watch the movie? Because if he did and he liked it, wow that's a whole different enchilada.