Rabbis Blame Kyrie Irving After ‘I’m A Jew And I’m Proud’ Signs Removed At Jazz Game
Topline
A group of four rabbis who attended a Utah Jazz game Monday night said the team forced them to put away signs reading “I’m A Jew and I’m Proud” after Dallas Mavericks player Kyrie Irving, who was suspended for five games in 2022 for an antisemitic social media post, complained to security.
Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks looks on during a game against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center on Jan. 1, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Getty Images
Key Facts
Rabbi Avremi Zippel took to X, formerly known as Twitter, before Monday night’s NBA game to explain he and three other Jewish religious leaders would be sitting courtside and holding the small, blue signs to give Irving, point guard for the Mavericks, an “appropriate welcome” to Salt Lake City.
Zippel said Irving noted the signs in the first quarter and commented “no need to bring that to a game” before Jazz security officials checked the rabbis’ tickets and asked them to put the signs away.
In a statement issued after the game, the Jazz said the signs violated rules against signs becoming distracting to players and that they were removed because they “interfered with play of game,” not because of the content.
Zippel told the Salt Lake Tribune that a “Jazz executive” told him Irving personally complained about the signs to security before they intervened.
Zippel told the Tribune he did not feel the signs the group brought were in violation of the Jazz’s Fan Code of Conduct—which prohibits obstructive signs of those that contain offensive language, among other restrictions—and noted an arena security employee took a posed photo of them with their signs before the game started without warning against them.
Representatives for Irving did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Wednesday.
Crucial Quote
“The man sees a sign that says ‘I’m Jewish and I am proud,’ takes issue with that sign, gets into a conversation with someone sitting courtside, and the organization feels like that sign needs to come down. What am I doing here? That’s pretty much the overarching reality at this point,” Zippel told the Tribune.
Key Background
Kyrie Irving was playing for the Brooklyn Nets in 2022 when he faced a five game, unpaid suspension for refusing to apologize for posting a link on Twitter to a documentary widely considered to be antisemitic. Almost a quarter of Brooklyn’s population is Jewish, and the team said Irving was “unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets.” Irving initially said he was “not going to stand down on anything I believe in” after being condemned for the post but did later apologize on Instagram, where he said he “initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic” but was “deeply sorry” to have hurt the Jewish community. He did not explain what beliefs expressed in the documentary, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” he did or didn’t agree with. That post was later deleted and, a few weeks later, he apologized in a recorded interview broadcast on SNY. Nike ended its partnership with Irving amid the controversy.
Tangent
Irving’s November 2022 controversy came around the same time Ye—the rapper formerly known as Kanye West—was thrust into the spotlight with his own series of antisemitic remarks, including Tweets where he said he would go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE … You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” he wrote. In December of 2022, Jewish leaders expressed concern that public figures were spreading Jewish hate after the commentary from the two stars, decision by then-new Twitter owner Elon Musk to grant “amnesty” for suspended accounts and a dinner hosted by former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago that was attended by Ye and Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust denier.
Further Reading
MORE FROM FORBESBrooklyn Nets Condemn Kyrie Irving For Promoting Antisemitic FilmBy Brian Bushard
