Kyrie Irving explained Saturday after the Nets' 125-116 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center why he shared Thursday on his Twitter an Amazon link to a film that has been described as antisemitic.
"It's a title given to Christ -- Philippians 2:11 -- and my name translates in the Hebrew language as Yahweh," Irving said. "So I went on to Amazon Prime, I was like, 'You know what? Let me see if there are any documentaries on Yahweh.' So went in the search bar, typed in Yahweh, that came up. When I shared it on my platform, that was my night. In terms of the backlash or what people call it, we're in 2022.
"History is not supposed to be hidden from anybody. And I'm not a divisive person when it comes to religion. I embrace all walks of life. You see it on all my platforms. I talk to all races, all cultures, all religions and my response would be it's not about educating yourself on what Semitism is or what anti-Semitism is. It's really about learning the root words of where these come from and understanding that this is an African heritage that is also belonging to the people. Africa is in it, whether we want to dismiss it or not.
"So the claims of antisemitism and who are the original chosen people of God and we go into these religious conversations and it's a big no-no. I don't live my way like that. I don't live my life that way, excuse me. I grew up in a melting pot, and I say a melting pot of all races -- white, Black, red, yellow, Jewish, Christian, Muslim -- and you can see the way I live my life now. I'm not here to be divisive.
"So they can push their agenda -- I don't want to say they, 'cause I'm not identifying any one group or race of people. But I'm in a unique position to have level of influence on my community, and what I post does not mean I support everything that's being said or everything that's being done or I'm campaigning for anything. All I do is post things for my people and my community, and those that it's actually going to impact. Anybody else that has criticism, obviously, it wasn't meant for him."
Asked by a reporter for further clarification about the move, Irving stopped the person short of completing the question and sent a message to the media as a whole.
"I don't expect understanding from a media conglomerate, group that sincerely talks about the game of basketball and then we bring up religion as if it's correlative at times when it's convenient for people to bring it up," Irving said. "So, please, just be direct with your question so we can move on from this and I can talk about the game and go home to my son Elohim and my wife Marlene, OK?"
While Irving reiterated what he tweeted earlier Saturday, that he "meant no disrespect to anyone's religious beliefs," his film link -- which Nets owner Joe Tsai expressed disappointment in -- remains up.
"We're in 2022," Irving said. "It's on Amazon, a public platform. Whether you want to go watch it or not is up to you. There's things being posted every day. I am no different than the next human being, so don't treat me any different. You guys come in here and make up this powerful influence I have over the top of the adultery of, 'Oh, you, you cannot post that.' Why not? Why not? [Inaudible.] I don't hear an uproar over that.
"I'm not here to be divisive on what's going on on this and that. I'm not comparing Jews to Blacks. I'm not comparing white to Black. I'm not doing that. The conversation is dismissive and it constantly revolves around the rhetoric of who are the chosen people of God, and I'm not here to argue over a person or a culture or religion on what they believe. No, this is what -- this here, it's on a public platform.
"Did I do anything illegal? OK. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody? Did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people? So out of all the judgment that people got of me posting, I just -- without talking to me. And then I respect what Joe said, but there has a lot to do with the not ego or pride of how proud I am to be an African heritage but also to be living as a free Black man here in America, knowing the historical complexities for me to get here.
"So I'm not going to stand down on anything I believe in. I'm only going to get stronger because I'm not alone. I have a whole army around me."