NBA commissioner Adam Silver claims Kyrie Irving is not anti-Semitic after meeting with Troubed star

NBA commissioner Adam Silver doesn’t say Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is anti-Semitic.

In an interview with The New York Times on Thursday, Silver spoke briefly about his meeting with Irving this week at the NBA’s Manhattan office. The meeting followed a series of events in which Irving promoted a film with antisemitic tropes and then refused to apologize in any meaningful way. Irving is now suspended and must complete six steps of repentance before he can be reinstated.

“We had a direct and open conversation,” Silver said. “He’s someone I’ve known for ten years and I’ve never heard a word anti-Semitic from him or, frankly, hatred of any group.”

But Silver added: “Whether or not he is anti-Semitic is irrelevant to the harm done by posting hateful content.”

Silver spoke to The Times after speaking at a conference in Washington, his first public appearance since the Irving incident began. He declined to participate in the conversation with Irving, citing an agreement to keep their conversation private.

The commissioner said at the conference that Amazon has some responsibility to offer the film on its platform.

“I think Amazon has to make decisions as well,” Silver said. He later added, “My first instinct was not that something so utterly despicable and full of hate speech would be on Amazon Prime.”

Silver said at the event that the social media post caused “tremendous damage” to Irving and “potentially” to the team and the league.

More than 200 entertainment figures signed an open letter to Amazon on Thursday urging Amazon to remove the Irving-sponsored film Hebrews to Negroes and the book it’s based on from the platform.

“I think we got the right result here on his suspension,” Silver said. “And in hindsight we could have gotten there faster. I accept this criticism. But I thought it was important to understand the context in which it was placed, to understand what discipline was appropriate, not to excuse it in any way, but to understand what discipline was appropriate.

When Irving can return to the team, the Nets will decide “in consultation with the league,” Silver said.

But some players are beginning to wonder if Irving’s punishment was too harsh. Among them is Lakers forward LeBron James.

“I told you I don’t believe in sharing hurtful information,” James said in a tweet Thursday. “And I’m going to stay that way, but Kyrie apologized and he should be able to play, that’s what I think. It’s that simple. Help him learn – but he has to play. What he has to do to get back on the ground, I think is exaggerated.”

James said of Irving, “He’s not who he is.”