Nike has suspended its relationship with Kyrie Irving and canceled its plans to release his next signature shoe, the latest chapter in the ongoing fallout since the Brooklyn Nets guard tweeted a link to a film containing antisemitic material.
The shoe giant announced Friday night that it will halt its relationship with Irving, who has been suspended by the Nets for what the team called a repeated failure to 鈥渦nequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.鈥�
The Nets made that move Thursday, and a day later, Nike made its decision. Those actions followed widespread criticism 鈥� from, among many others, the Anti-Defamation League and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
鈥淎t Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism," the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said. 鈥淭o that end, we鈥檝e made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8."
Irving has had a signature line with Nike since 2014.
鈥淲e are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone," Nike said.
Irving signed with Nike in 2011, shortly after becoming the No. 1 pick in that year鈥檚 NBA draft. Irving鈥檚 first signature shoe was released three years later, and the popularity of the Kyrie line led to him making a reported $11 million annually just from the Nike endorsement.
The Kyrie 8 was expected to be released in the next week. Previous models of his shoes were still for sale on the Nike website Friday night.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, who won a title alongside Irving when they were Cleveland teammates in 2016, said his position is simple: Hate speech, in any form, can't be tolerated.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no place in this world for it,鈥� James said. 鈥淣obody can benefit from that and I believe what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people.鈥�
James, who has been with Nike for the entirety of his 20-season NBA career, said he still has great fondness for Irving.
鈥淲e as humans, none of us are perfect,鈥� James said. 鈥淏ut I hope he understands how what he did and the actions that he took were just harmful to a lot of people.鈥�
Irving posted a tweet 鈥� which has since been deleted 鈥� last week with a link to the documentary 鈥淗ebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,鈥� which includes Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories about Jews. In a contentious postgame interview session last Saturday, Irving defended his right to post what he wants.
The fallout only continued from there. The NBA put out a statement over the weekend that didn't name Irving but denounced all forms of hate speech. occupied some courtside seats at the Brooklyn-Indiana game on Monday night, a day after he took down the tweet. The Nets and coach Steve Nash parted ways Tuesday, a development that has been overshadowed by the Irving saga.
On Wednesday, Irving said he opposes all forms of hate, and he and the Nets each announced that they would each donate $500,000 toward groups that work to eradicate it. Silver then issued a new statement calling on Irving by name to apologize, and Irving refused to give a direct answer when asked Thursday if he has antisemitic beliefs.
That, evidently, was the last straw for the Nets, who suspended him. Hours later, for not explaining the specific beliefs he agreed and disagreed with when he posted the documentary.
鈥淭o All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize,鈥� Irving wrote. 鈥淚 initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary.鈥�
A day later, Nike 鈥� which had also been criticized for not moving more swiftly 鈥� took action.
Irving becomes the second celebrity in less than two weeks to lose a major shoe deal over antisemitism. a move the German company said would result in about $250 million in losses this year after stopping production of its line of Yeezy products as well as halting payments to Ye and his companies.
For weeks, Ye made antisemitic comments in interviews and on social media, including a Twitter post that he would soon go 鈥渄eath con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,鈥� an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.
Irving has expressed no shortage of controversial opinions during his career. He repeatedly questioned whether the Earth was round before eventually . Last year, his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine led to him being banned from playing in most of the Nets' home games.
The Nets played at Washington on Friday, winning 128-86 without Irving. The 42-point win matched the fourth-largest in Nets franchise history.
that Irving鈥檚 apology was a step forward, but many other steps will be required before he can resume playing.
鈥淭here is going to be some remedial steps and measures that have been put in place for him to obviously seek some counseling ... from dealing with some anti-hate and some Jewish leaders within our community,鈥� Marks said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to have to sit down with them, he鈥檚 going to have to sit down with the organization after this, and we鈥檒l evaluate and see if this is the right opportunity to bring him back.鈥�
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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
