While we’ve heard prominent past players as well as other analysts weigh in on the Kyrie Irving controversy, current NBA players have largely been silent. One player whose silence particularly stood out was LeBron James. But on Friday night, LeBron commented in detail on the controversial actions of his former teammate.
Shortly after LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers were defeated by the Utah Jazz on Friday, James was asked about Irving — who was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night and had his relationship with Nike suspended earlier on Friday.
James’ comments were captured by Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times as well as ESPN’sDave McMenamin.
LeBron James on Kyrie Irving, says he doesn’t condone Irving’s post and that what he said was harmful to a lot of people. pic.twitter.com/hqrKZE08Lw
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) November 5, 2022
Full transcript of LeBron James’ answers tonight condemning Kyrie Irving’s social media posts and subsequent statements as “harmful”: pic.twitter.com/O1mC4o5d6E
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 5, 2022
LeBron’s comments were generally met positively.
This is all I've been hoping to hear. Good on LeBron for this. https://t.co/Sgq9P55Ebk
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) November 5, 2022
And obviously, what I’ve been hoping to hear doesn’t matter. But this is a strident statement against hate speech of any kind that also mentions antisemitism. We haven’t gotten much of this to this point.
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) November 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/joeygrundl/status/1588782053868597248
Respect to @KingJames for this. Thank you for at least somewhat calling out your friend. https://t.co/LDKosecCQw
— 𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒕 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒌 🐦⬛🏈🇬🇪🇺🇦🇱🇻 (@CarasikS) November 5, 2022
about as good a statement as you could hope for https://t.co/sQA1VsVjIt
— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) November 5, 2022
Glad he said something. Hopefully the sport can go back to being about, y'know, the sport soon. https://t.co/eom7QcvOAP
— Adam Jacobi (@adam_jacobi) November 5, 2022
good on lebron https://t.co/3utX8rX5qb
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) November 5, 2022
Obviously, the nature of any controversy is that there will be divided opinions. Case in point, while the backlash towards Irving has been stronger, he’s also had some notable defenders. Given LeBron’s position in the league (both the current league and its history), his past with Irving and that he’s always been willing to speak on non-basketball matters, he couldn’t stay silent on this.
As has been a common theme throughout this controversy, an earlier response would have been nicer. But that criticism is more valid in regards to Irving (in regards to his eventual apology), the Nets and the NBA itself. So, while a quicker response might have been ideal, it wasn’t as needed.
Short of saying it a few days earlier, LeBron’s response was all that could realistically be expected from him.
