Nike suspended its relationship with Kyrie Irving and scrapped plans to release his next signature shoe, the latest chapter in the ongoing fallout since the Brooklyn Nets guard tweeted a link to a movie that contained anti-Semitic material.
The shoe giant announced Friday night that it would sever its relationship with Irving, who was suspended by the Nets for what the team called a repeated failure “to unequivocally say he does not hold anti-Semitic beliefs.”
The Nets made that move Thursday, suspending Irving without pay for at least five games, and a day later, Nike made its decision.  These actions were followed by widespread criticism – from, among many others, the Anti-Defamation League and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn all forms of anti-Semitism,” the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said.  “To that end, we have made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer release the Kyrie 8.”
Irving has had a signature line with Nike since 2014.
“We 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’s NBA draft.  Irving’s first signature shoe was released three years later, and the popularity of the Kyrie line led to him making $11 million a year just from the Nike endorsement.
The Kyrie 8 was expected to release next week.  Previous models of his shoes were still for sale on Nike’s website Friday night.
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, who won a title with Irving when they were teammates in Cleveland in 2016, said his position is simple: Hate speech, in any form, cannot be tolerated.
“There is no place in this world,” said James.  “No one can benefit from this and I think what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people.”
James, who has been with Nike for his entire 20-season NBA career, said he still has a lot of love for Irving.
“As humans, none of us are perfect,” James said.  “But I hope he understands how what he did and the actions he took were just harmful to a lot of people.”
Irving posted a tweet — which has since been deleted — last week with a link to the documentary “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” which includes Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories about Jews.  In a contentious postgame interview last Saturday, Irving defended his right to publish what he wants.
The decline only continued from there.  The NBA released a statement over the weekend that did not name Irving but denounced all forms of hate speech.  Fans wearing “Fight Antisemitism” jerseys occupied some courtside seats at the Brooklyn-Indiana game Monday night, a day after he took down the tweet.  The Nets and coach Steve Nash parted ways Tuesday, a development overshadowed by the Irving saga.
On Wednesday, Irving said he opposes all forms of hate, and he and the Nets announced they would each donate $500,000 to groups working to eradicate it.  Silver then issued a new statement calling on Irving by name to apologize, and Irving declined to give a direct answer when asked Thursday if he holds anti-Semitic beliefs.
That, apparently, was the last straw for the Nets who cut him.  Hours later, Irving posted an apology on Instagram for not explaining the specific beliefs he agreed with and disagreed with when he posted the documentary.
“To all the Jewish families and communities who were hurt and affected by my position, I am deeply sorry for causing you pain and I apologize,” Irving wrote.  “I initially reacted out of emotion at being unfairly labeled an anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish brothers and sisters who were hurt by the hateful comments made in the Documentary.”
A day later, Nike – which had also been criticized for not moving faster – took action.
Irving becomes the second celebrity in less than two weeks to lose a major shoe deal over anti-Semitism.  Adidas parted ways with Ye – the artist formerly known as Kanye West – late last month, a move the German company said would result in losses of around $250 million this year after production of the Yeezy product line was discontinued as well as stopping payments to Ye and his companies.
For weeks, Ye made anti-Semitic comments in interviews and on social media, including a tweet that he would soon say “lethal 3 for JEWS,” an apparent reference to the US defense readiness scale known as DEFCON.
Irving has not expressed controversial opinions during his career.  He repeatedly wondered if the Earth was round before finally apologizing to his science teachers.  Last year, his refusal to get a vaccine for COVID-19 led to him being banned from most of the Nets’ home games.
The Nets played in Washington on Friday, winning 128-86 without Irving.  The 42-point victory tied for the fourth-most in Nets franchise history.
Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks said earlier Friday that Irving’s apology was a step forward, but it will take several more steps before he can continue playing.
“There will be some remedies and measures put in place to obviously seek some counsel … from dealing with some anti-hate and some Jewish leaders in our community,” Marks said.  “He’ll have to sit down with them, he’ll have to sit down with the organization after that, and we’ll evaluate and see if this is the right opportunity to bring him back.”