Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving returned from his suspension after eight games, first doing an interview with SNY in which he apologized repeatedly and thoroughly. Irving admitted mistakes, discussed learning from them, shared his viewpoints and stated his intention to do better. At nearly every point, he took responsibility.

Irving:

“I really want to focus on the hurt that I caused or the impact that I made within the Jewish community, putting some type of threat, or assumed threat, on the Jewish community. I just want to apologize deeply for all my actions throughout the time that it’s been since the post was first put up. I’ve had a lot of time to think. But my focus, initially, if I could do it over, would be to heal and repair a lot of my close relationships with my Jewish relatives, brothers and sisters.”

Irving said he should have directly declared himself not to be anti-Semitic when asked, that he got defensive when facing what he deemed to be an untrue accusation. He apologized for his initial reactions.

I'm satisfied.

As I said initially, I didn't take Irving seriously on worldviews before. I don't now. As intelligent as he is, he's too prone to accepting loony theories in order to prove he's smart than everyone else.

But I also don't need to take him seriously on worldviews to believe it's OK for him to play NBA basketball. I hope he has truly learned from his mistakes and works to make the world a better place. But as he said after meeting with Jewish leaders:

"The dialogue was a great start, but the reality is, our actions as human beings – and my actions – are going to have to speak louder."

Ian Begley of SNY also asked the question I'd been wanting Irving to answer: Why did you post a link to the anti-Semitic film? Irving has mostly focused on what he didn't want to do – promote the film, spread anti-Semitism, etc. (and did so again here). But he hadn't really addressed why he posted the link until saying this:

"Majority of the documentary was speaking on the lost tribes of our world, black people specifically, and dealing with other races that are also searching for their history."

Based on descriptions of the film, that seems hard to accept. But I haven't watched the film. I don't plan to watch the film. At this point, I'm mostly just willing to move on.

Irving apologized. I believe he doesn't want to be anti-Semitic. It seems the fallout and lessons here will likely make him more careful in the future about not spreading anti-Semitism.

Jaylen Brown

In support of Kyrie Irving, a large group from Israel United in Christ – a sect with views similar to those espoused in the film Kyrie Irving promoted, that Blacks are the true descendants of ancient Jews and that modern Jews are imposters – chanted and handed out literature outside the Nets game yesterday. This is an organization with wild theories, including some hateful theories.

Jaylen Brown retweeted video of the group and captioned it with a positive sounding "Energy."

He later tweeted he mistook Israel United in Christ with Omega Psi Phi (Ques), a black fraternity. Both groups do wear purple and yellow.

I take Brown at his word. In part because I don't think he'd so overtly support a group like Israel United in Christ. In part because I'm inclined to give people benefit of the doubt.

But did Brown learning nothing from this Irving saga? Maybe investigate a little bit before promoting something. Be skeptical. Who do you think would take the streets to support Irving in this moment?

Brown explained further today, via Jamal Collier of ESPN:

“I saw a large group of people from our community showing support for him and his return. So, me being proud of that support, being proud of our community doing that, does not mean I endorse or celebrate some of the things that were being done or being said.”

"When I'm a father – I'm not yet – I would like my son and daughter to see more representations of people of color, brown people and black people, standing together on issues."

These comments bother me more than the initial tweet. What makes these people from Brown's community? Because they share the same skin color? How reductive.

When someone does something wrong – as Irving himself acknowledged he did – you don't have to support him just because he's the same race. Not all black and brown people agree on everything. They needn't stand together out of racial solidarity.

That type of thinking is what leads to tweets like his Brown's initial tweet, even if it were born out of a misunderstanding.

Isiah Thomas

Pistons legend Isiah Thomas also tweeted a supportive message with video of Israel United in Christ members outside the Nets game. Thomas then deactivated his Twitter account.

I'd be surprised if Thomas stayed quiet through this entire saga then chose this moment to share his support for the extremist views Kyrie Irving amplified. Though not explicitly endorsing the viewpoints in the film Irving linked to, Jaylen Brown, by contrast, previously defended Irving on certain tangential issues.

But Thomas can explain himself. Hopefully, he will.

Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant told told Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report:

“Look at our starting lineup. Edmond Sumner, Royce O’Neale, Joe Harris, [Nic] Claxton and me. It’s not disrespect, but what are you expecting from that group?" Durant asked of B/R. “You expect us to win because I’m out there. So if you’re watching from that lens, you’re expecting us to play well because No. 7 is out there.

That quote caused an uproar, because, well, read it. It was pretty darned demeaning.

But on Boardroom, Durant clarified that he was trying to protect his teammates from expectations and admitted he worded his point poorly.

I very much appreciate Durant's follow-up comments. He didn't blame anyone else for twisting his words. He took responsibility and clarified. He even acknowledged feeling bad about causing his teammates to endure this. It's is the exact right way to handle the controversy.

Durant's intent matters more than his wording

I believe he wasn't trying to disrespect his teammates. He did disrespect them. But I believe he wasn't trying to. Now that he has explained what he meant, we can move on with that understanding.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo bickered with 76ers big Montrezl Harrell and pushed over a ladder on Philadelphia's court after the Bucks' loss to the 76ers on Friday.

Much of the incident was captured on video. Tim Bontemps of ESPN has a thorough rundown of events. The gist:

After shooting 4-for-15 on free throws, Antetokounmpo returned to the floor to practice free throws. Back on the court for extra practice himself, Harrell took Antetokounmpo's ball. They jawed a bit then Antetokounmpo went back to the locker room and got another ball. But while he did that, an arena worker set up a ladder in front of the basket Antetokounmpo was shooting on. Antetokounmpo told him to move the ladder then, upon getting resistance, moved it himself. When the worker moved the ladder back, Antetokounmpo pushed it away again more forcefully, knocking it over.

Antetokounmpo, via Bontemps:

"At the end of the day, people are going to make things look the way they want it to look," Antetokounmpo said of the video of him pushing the ladder. "Did I mean to push the ladder all the way down? I totally did not. I just tried to, I think I pushed it and it got caught and fell. But people are going to make it look the way they want it to look.

"I don't know if I should apologize because I don't feel like I did anything wrong, except the ladder just fell. I feel like it's my right for me to work on my skills after a horrible night at the free throw line. I think anybody in my position that had a night like me would go out and work on his free throws.

"At the end of the day, I think everybody knows my character," he said. "I think the people that know my character know I never try to disrespect anybody within the NBA, within my coaching staff, within the opposing team. I respect with the best words about any player whenever I've been asked. Or I've never disrespected an opponent coach or a coaching staff. Or whenever I shoot and finish my routine, from my rookie year until now, I always shake every ball boy's hand and make sure I thank them for the work I do because I know it's hard to do their job chasing balls over and over and over again and make sure they're OK. I do it for my ball boys and ball girls in Milwaukee. They help us when we shoot, and I try to do it on the road too. I've been known for this."

I understand Antetokounmpo wanting to practice free throws. I also understand arena workers wanting to finish tearing down and go home. It was a minor dispute to sort out. And though I will dissect it, let's not make the situation into more than it is.

Antetokounmpo might not have meant to push over the ladder. But he did push it hard enough to knock it over.

One incident shouldn't define Antetokounmpo's character. But it shouldn't be ignored from his record, either. Antetokounmpo came across like a jerk – probably, in frustration, more than he intended. But he did what he did.

For the record, Harrell also came across like a jerk.

I wouldn't stress this incident when evaluating either player, though.

Zach LaVine

Bulls coach Billy Donovan benched Zach LaVine, who shot 1-for-14, down the stretch of Chicago's loss to the Magic on Friday.

LaVine, via Jamal Collier of ESPN:

"I got to do a better job at the beginning of the game to make my shots, but you play a guy like me down the stretch," said LaVine, who finished with four points. "That's what I do. Do I like the decision? No. Do I have to live with it? Yeah. Be ready to put my shoes on and play the next game."

In case it wasn't clear LaVine isn't holding a grudge, he expanded yesterday, via Collier:

"His decision was to try to do the best thing for the team, which I respect. If we won, obviously, I would've been ecstatic. We lost, I wasn't. I had a terrible game.

"But it's one game, man. I don't want to get this blown out of proportion to the point we're talking about a loss, where we've had multiple losses this year. We got a lot of games left this year. We're all good. I think he understands where I'm coming from and I understand his decision as a coach that he has to make are tough, even if your players don't agree with it."

What impressive emotional intelligence from LaVine. He recognizes losing contributed to his frustration. He feels how he feels. He recognizes Donovan is just doing his job, which includes making difficult decisions.

LaVine is a star over a larger sample. He was also playing poorly Friday. Maybe for fluky reasons that could've disappeared late in the game. Maybe for sustainable reasons that would've remained an issue in crunch time. LaVine believed it was the former. Donovan believed it was the latter. I don't know.

But the best thing for them is understanding each other's viewpoints and being more capable of getting it right the next time a similar situation emerges. It sounds like they're doing that.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

A steady riser throughout his career, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having a breakout season. The Thunder guard is averaging 31 points per game on 63% true shooting. But this isn't just a scoring leap. James Herbert of CBS Sports writes about Gilgeous-Alexander's improved defense.

Minnesota Timberwolves

An opposing head coach told Tim MacMahon of ESPN he believes the Timberwolves' biggest problems are "interpersonal." MacMahon digs into the multitude of problems facing Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and co.

Underrated moves

Bobby Marks of ESPN covers the most unheralded moves of last offseason. I particularly appreciate -the deep cuts like the Bulls signing Goran Dragic and Andre Drummond, the Suns signing Damion Lee and the Celtics re-signing Sam Hauser.

Kyrie Irving

Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports has a powerful column about the experience of both attending the funeral of a holocaust survivor (his wife's grandmother) and covering Kyrie Irving's return Sunday.

-Dan Feldman