Kyrie Irving, a Brooklyn Nets player, gave an interview to the SNY network in which he expressed his views about the entire incident and apologized for posting anti-Semitic content online.
“I don’t harbor any ill will toward Jews or anyone who claims to be Jewish.
Irving told SNY, “I’m not anti-Jewish or anything like that. “And it’s been challenging to watch all this unfold at home with my family while they ask questions. Since I am aware of who I am and what I stand for, describing myself has proven to be the most challenging part.
“But I believe the challenging part is just processing all of this, seeing the strength of my voice and the impact I have,” he concluded.
I’m not anyone’s hero, but I am a person who wants to influence others and bring about change. I apologize to the Jewish community and my family and friends, who know my more extensive political views.
Now that I get to defend myself, I’m grateful.
“I really want to focus on the harm I caused or the influence I had within the Jewish community,” Irving continued. putting the Jewish community under threat, either real or imagined.
“I just want to sincerely apologize for all I’ve done since the post was first published. I have had plenty of time to reflect.
However, if I could go back in time, my priority would be to mend and mend many of my strong relationships with my Jewish cousins, siblings, and sisters.
Irving spoke about his childhood in West Orange, New Jersey, which he described as “a melting pot for a lot of various religious backgrounds, races, and cultures” when questioned about his choice not to fully apologize in the initial news conferences.
He said, “I felt like I was protecting my character, and I just reacted out of pure defense and was offended that I could be called, or I thought that I was being labeled as antisemitic or anti-Jewish, and I’ve felt like that was just so disrespectful to ask me whether or not I was antisemitic or not.
“Now, to the outside world, that might have appeared to be a straightforward “yes” or “no. ” But it should have said, “No, I’m not antisemitic. No, I’m not anti-Jewish; rather, I believe that everyone should have access to the same chances and that spreading love should be our top priority,” Irving continued.
“But it wasn’t in that first chat, and I accept responsibility for that and want to apologize because it came across as utterly incorrect.
I was asking, “How can I be antisemitic if I am aware of my origins? ” That declaration only referred to my early years and all the family members and friends I had met and will continue to get to know better.
They are Jewish; some identity as Jews while others do not. I thought that didn’t matter, and it came off poorly because of how I felt at the time.
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