Nike Sportswear Severs Contractual Ties with NBA Star Kyrie Irving
Edited by: TJVNews.com
The Nike sportswear company has officially severed contractual ties with Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving.
A spokesperson for Irving told CNBC that the two parties “have mutually decided to part ways,” according to a Scripps news service report.
Nike suspended its contract with Irving in November. The Brooklyn Nets star came under fire in October after sharing a link to an anti-Semitic film that promotes the Black Hebrew Israelite movement that is based upon animus towards Jews.
Irving, who calls himself a “free thinker,” initially took a defensive stance when he was asked about the movie, saying he is not anti-Semitic. He eventually apologized but not after quite some time.
“To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize,” Irving wrote in a post on Instagram. “I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary.”
According to The Associated Press, Irving signed with Nike in 2011. His endorsement deal reportedly earned him $11 million a year.
Irving served an 8-game suspension for his actions. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who is Jewish, met with Irving. He said he does not believe Irving is anti-Semitic.
In early November the original announcement that Nike had suspended its relationship with Irving came out and now it is finalized. The company canceled its plans to release his next signature shoe, the latest chapter in the ongoing fallout since the Brooklyn Nets guard tweeted a link to a film containing anti-Semitic material.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of anti-Semitism,” the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said. “To that end, we’ve made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8.”
Irving has had a signature line with Nike since 2014, the AP reported.
“We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone,” Nike said.
The AP reported that 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 a reported $11 million annually just from the Nike endorsement.
The Kyrie 8 was expected to be released in November. Previous models of his shoes were still for sale on the Nike website.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, who won a title alongside Irving when they were Cleveland teammates in 2016, said his position is simple: Hate speech, in any form, can’t be tolerated.
“There’s no place in this world for it,” James said, according to the AP report. “Nobody can benefit from that and I believe what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people.”
James, who has been with Nike for the entirety of his 20-season NBA career, said he still has great fondness for Irving.
“We as humans, none of us are perfect,” James said, the AP reported. “But I hope he understands how what he did and the actions that 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 session last Saturday, Irving defended his right to post what he wants.