Kyrie Irving returns in action for the Brooklyn Nets, and thanks his supporters and fans for their support
The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 127-115 on Sunday night. It was a special night for the Brooklyn Nets as Kyrie Irving made his much-awaited return.
Notably, Kyrie Irving served an eight-game suspension. He was banned by the Brooklyn Nets because of a tweet that promoted antisemitism.
Irving was suspended since November 3 and while suspending, the Nets termed Irving’s actions as “harmful impact of his conduct”. This was related to the social media posts made by Irving which promoted a book and movie that contained antisemitic ideas.
Next, Kyrie followed a long process before getting unbanned. After sharing the ‘antisemitic’ tweet, Kyrie was initially served a five-game minimum suspension. This five-game suspension was handed because Kyrie repeatedly refused to apologize for the posts linking to the antisemitic film.
After getting banned, Kyrie issued an apology on Instagram. Brooklyn Nets accepted the apology but set up conditions before Kyrie could return to play.
Interestingly, Brooklyn Nets set up Kyrie with six-outlined steps that Irving must complete before returning. The requirements included a spoken apology condemning the film, a $500,000 donation to anti-hate causes, sensitivity, and antisemitic training, as well as meetings with the ADL, Jewish leaders, and Nets owner Joe Tsai.
After a while, it was reported that the NBA and Brooklyn Nets are satisfied with the steps that Irving has taken to rectify the problem. After this, Kyrie was cleared to play on Sunday night against Grizzlies.
Before the game vs. Grizzlies, Kyrie again apologized stating “my deep apologies to all those who are impacted over the last few weeks.”
He also acknowledged that he could have handled the situation better after the initial response to his posts poured in.
On getting unbanned, the Brooklyn Nets star took to Twitter and shared his thoughts. He went on to thank people for standing next to him on the journey and expressed that he loved all of them.
-Kyrie Irving“To All of you that are standing next to me on this Journey I want to say thank you, I love you, and I honor your fearlessness and bravery. You motivate me more than you know. Now, Let’s build and celebrate one another; Hélà”
Kyrie might get banned but it seems that he has not lost his touch. As the Brooklyn Nets trounced the Memphis Grizzlies, Guard Kyrie Irving put up 14 points and 5 rebounds.
On the other hand, Kevin Durant scored big with 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Ben Simmons also had a good game, scoring 22 points, and grabbing 8 rebounds. With this win, the Nets improve their record to (8-9).
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