Amar’e Stoudemire was part of the Brooklyn Nets the last time Kyrie Irving was in controversy. Now he has some advice for the embattled point guard.
During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up on Wednesday, the former NBA All-Star, who spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Nets, said Irving had to apologize after tweeting a documentary containing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and falsehoods have shared.
“You have to apologize because if you’re promoting a documentary that contains false allegations, and maybe you don’t understand that those allegations in the documentary are false, OK, you made a mistake, didn’t you? So apologize for that.”
“And I think that’s the problem. By not apologizing [that’s] a topic that the NBA will likely look at.”
Stoudemire converted to Judaism in 2020 and was granted Israeli citizenship, but had previously believed in the Black Hebrew movement of Israel, which forms the basis of some of the statements Irving has been criticized for.
Irving did a combative defense of the tweet following a Saturday night game as well as an earlier split by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, but deleted the tweet linking to the documentary on Sunday night.
Amar’e Stoudemire, who converted to Judaism in 2020, thinks Kyrie Irving should have apologized for sharing a documentary containing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Later Wednesday, the Nets released a statement, quoting Irving, in which he said he takes responsibility for “the negative impact my post has had on the Jewish community,” while also claiming he doesn’t believe anything in the documentary be true. The Nets said she and Irving would each donate $500,000 to “causes and organizations working to eradicate hate and intolerance in our communities.”
At no point in the statement did Irving explicitly apologize.
Before that happened, when asked, Stoudemire didn’t say Irving should be suspended, but said the NBA should at least consider it:
“Well, I think something has to happen, whether it’s an intense conversation with the commissioner about what he’s doing and what his plans are as a basketball player. So I think this conversation needs to happen. So far (suspension and those things), I’m not sure how this is going to turn out.
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“I mean, Kyrie is a guy trying to find himself. He is always looking for learning, knowledge and information. And if you’re not entirely factual or understand what you’re learning and what you’re trying to promote, then just don’t promote it. Just study in peace and try to figure it out. But as soon as you start publishing information that is not true, a problem arises.”
Stoudemire, who also had words for Irving’s vaccine-related absences when he resigned from his Nets job, is far from the only person to criticize Irving for his behavior, nor is he the only former NBA star.
Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal both took aim at Irving during Tuesday’s TNT show “Inside the NBA,” with both calling the security guard an “idiot.” Barkley questioned why Irving wasn’t suspended, citing the precedent set by former Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard, who was suspended indefinitely after saying an anti-Semitic slur during a Twitch stream.