Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving has been a lightning rod for controversy during his tenure with the franchise. He has made NBA headlines for pretty much everything other than his exploits on the basketball court.
Right now he is serving a suspension of at least five games as fallout from his sharing anti-semitic media on his Twitter page. The NBA and the Nets gave him ample time to denounce what was in the video and apologize, but he wouldn’t unequivocally say he wasn’t anti-semitic, which led to his suspension.
Irving has since issued an apology on his Instagram account, but the Nets want to see him do more than that before returning to the team. They laid out a six-step process that he needs to complete before he can return to the court.
There are reports that the list was made knowing that Irving wouldn’t complete it, as his future in the league is up in the air. Actions have consequences and Irving is experiencing that firsthand as he is losing things by the day.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets & Nike Updates
Irving has lost some sponsors as a result of his actions, including Nike. Nike announced they were no longer launching its new shoe, and suspending its relationship with the mercurial point guard, but they have taken it a step further. According to co-founder Phil Knight, that is a relationship that is likely done forever.
“I would doubt that we go back,” Knight said. “But I don’t know for sure.”
Irving has been a Nike athlete since 2011 and his line of signature shoes began in 2014. It is believed that he was paid $11 million annually by Nike, a large sum of money that he will no longer be receiving. After some of the remarks that Irving made, Nike no longer saw him as someone they could work with.
“Kyrie stepped over the line,” Knight said. “It’s kind of that simple. He made some statements that we just can’t abide by and that’s why we ended the relationship. And I was fine with that.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets & Nike Updates
Just like the Nets and NBA, Nike tried to get Irving to make an apology and clarify some of the comments that he made but he refused. He is steadfast in his beliefs, which he is entitled to, but when you cross a line in the fashion that he did, you would think that Irving would want to clear up some of the accusations made against him.
Alas, he never rose to the occasion of doing so, which has led to him losing a lot of money and potentially his basketball career as controversial opinion-sharing is nothing new for Irving.
