Jaylen Brown voices more support for Kyrie Irving
BOSTON -- Jaylen Brown continues to voice his support for Kyrie Irving, and hopes the Nets guard is allowed to return to action sometime in the near future. He did so over the weekend, and on Monday night, Brown said again that he takes issue with a list of actions that the Nets and owner Joe Tsai want Irving to complete before he returns.
The Nets suspended Irving for at least five games after he shared an antisemitic film on social media and didn't apologize for his actions during a media session. He later apologized over Instagram, but the Nets have a list of six things that Irving needs to complete before he returns, which includes sensitivity training and antisemitic/anti-hate training.
That doesn't sit well with Brown, who like Irving, is a VP of the National Basketball Players Association. Both Tsai and NBA commissioner Adam Silver have said that they do not believe that Irving is antisemitic after meeting with the player, but Tsai recently said that Irving has more work to do before returning.
"His response was alarming to me," Brown said of Tsai on Monday night, after Boston's comeback win over the Thunder. "He didn't say the organization was working together to get Kyrie back on the floor. He said that he 'has more work to do.' Our society has more work to do, including Joe Tsai.
"So I'm curious to know what that is, what that means. And everybody is tuned in and watching the situation because this is our league," Brown continued. "We all are basketball players, but we all are human beings as well. So I'm looking forward to seeing the union and the NBA figure out what the next steps are."
Irving was suspended on Nov. 3, and has missed the last six games for the Nets. It doesn't appear that he'll be with the team on its upcoming West Coast road trip, so Irving will miss at least eight games on the suspension. And a return on Sunday is no guarantee, either.
Brown spoke about Irving, his former teammate in Boston from 2017-19, and his situation for over five minutes on Monday.
"I don't think he meant any harm by posting it. It came off as insensitive with a lot of people, but Adam Silver came out with a statement that he doesn't believe Kyrie is antisemitic. Joe Tsai came out and said in a statement that he doesn't believe Kyrie is antisemitic. Those are their words," said Brown. "He has already apologized formally through his IG post and said that he supports all walks of life. But the comment that Joe Tsai made bothered a lot of people.
"It's uncharted territory. I think there's no distinction between what somebody says versus what somebody posts, and I guess that's what they are trying to figure out," Brown continued. "The terms that the Brooklyn Nets instituted for his return, I voiced my discomfort. Some of our players, some people in the media voiced some of their discomfort with that, and we've yet to hear what is the latest with that situation."
Brown hopes that the league, the union, and the Brooklyn Nets can get together soon to discuss and solve the Irving situation. He said Brooklyn's list for Irving's return could be something that comes up in the next round of CBA negotiations.
"I don't think weve ever seen anything like this before in our league. To say this is what is needed for someone to return, players thought that was excessive," he said. "I don't know if that will be a CBA negotiation point or talking mechanism, but I know that there is sensitivity on both sides that needs to be addressed. I'm looking forward to the union, the NBA, and the Nets coming to a solution in the near future."
