Over the last month, Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving has faced backlash after he uploaded a link to an offensive anti-Semitic film on Twitter. Due to his lack of accountability and apology, the controversial player was suspended for five games. While many welcomed the suspension, basketball star Charles Barkley slammed the NBA for their slow response. “He [Irving] should have got suspended. He apologized. I criticize the NBA because they should have suspended him sooner,” he said on a recent episode of “The Chris Cuomo Project” podcast. “They gave him a week and a half to apologize, and he didn’t apologize … then they had to suspend him because of pressure.”
Barkley went on to say that NBA “shouldn’t have waited” for pressure to take action before stating that Irving is in the “money-making business.” He added, “If you’re going to insult a segment of a population … like woah … I thought the suspension was warranted.” Barkley’s comments come a couple of days after Nike terminated their partnership with Irving. “Kyrie is no longer a Nike athlete,” a Nike spokesperson told ABC News on December 5. Before to cutting ties, the company initially revealed that their partnership was suspended, per The Wall Street Journal. Shortly after Nike’s announcement, Irving’s agent, Shetellia Riley Irving, said the decision was mutual in an additional statement. “We have mutually decided to part ways and wish Nike the best in their future endeavors,” she told CNBC.
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