Kyrie Irving is not exactly the most beloved player in the NFL, however, the degree of enmity that the Brooklyn Nets point guard has generated in recent days is unprecedented and that is due to his comments in which he promoted a movie and a book with anti-Semitic themes, this Tuesday, another public enemy has come to the fore.
Speaking before and at halftime of the Nets game against the Chicago Bulls on TNT, NBA analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley not only criticized Irving, whom he described as an idiot, he went further by bad-mouthing both the league and its Commissioner Adam Silver for failing to punish the controversial player in an exemplary manner.
For future with team, Nets want more commitment from Irving
Charles Barkley’s harsh criticism of the NBA commissioner
“I think he should have been suspended. I think Adam [Silver] should have suspended him,” Barkley said. “First of all, Adam’s Jewish. You can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion … I think the NBA made a mistake. We have suspended people and fined people who have made homophobic slurs, and that was the right thing to do.”
The Nets are in the midst of a serious crisis both on and off the court, as on Tuesday it was announced that they have fired coach Steve Nash, however, that did not prevent the team from losing 108-99 against the Bulls in a game where Irving had a lousy performance by accumulating 4 points and hitting only two of the 12 shots he attempted from the field.
Kyrie Irving kept silent after lousy game vs. Bulls
“The reason it’s too late-the NBA is giving in to peer pressure,” Barkley said. “If one of our players does something, the team or the league has to do something immediately. If you just give in to peer pressure, that’s the problem I have. This should have been handled already.”
Irving chose not to appear before the media to answer questions after the loss to the Bulls.