Kyrie Irving

The Nets suspended Kyrie Irving at least five games, until he meets certain conditions. Those conditions, combining reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports:

• Meet with the media and issue a sufficient oral apology for sharing the film – including condemning the film and stating he's not anti-Jewish – and share it on social media. (Irving already apologized on social media.)
• Donate $500,000 to "causes and organizations that work to eradicate hate and intolerance in our communities" and work with the ADL, as outlined in the team's previous statement. (Even after his apology, the ADL said it wouldn't accept Irving's donation.)
• Meet with the ADL and Jewish community leaders in Brooklyn
• Complete sensitivity, anti-anti-Semitic and anti-hate trainings created by the Nets
• Meet with Nets owner Joe Tsai and other top Nets officials and assure them this behavior won't be repeated

That last last step is particularly notable, because Irving didn't return Tsai's texts and the Nets communicated completely through Irving's agent and stepmother, Shetellia Riley Irving, according to Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

I like that these requirements actually involve Irving's offense and rectifying it – not just allowing time to pass. All this hoopla would've been unnecessary – or at least less necessary – if Irving showed a sincere desire to learn from his mistake in the first place. But because he was so resistant, these more-concrete steps are appropriate.

LeBron James

LeBron James on Irving, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

"I hope that he understands that what he said was harmful to a lot of people. And we as humans, none of us are perfect, but I hope he understands what he did and the actions that he took are just harmful to a lot of people.

"If you are promoting or soliciting or saying harmful things to any community that harms people, then I don’t respect it. I don’t condone it."

Many criticized other NBA players for not disavowing the viewpoints Irving was espousing. LeBron gets more criticism than anyone for remaining silent on some issues.

That criticism hasn't come from me. Irving should answer for Irving. His mistakes are his, not others' who share the same profession. And not everyone can care about everything. It's generally OK if people choose to sit out some issues.

But it's still appreciated when people speak up on the side of justice. It doesn't have to be a cause that directly affects you.

Nike

Nike dropped Kyrie Irving.

Reminder: Don't look to large corporations for your morals. Nike dropped Irving because his reputation became so tarnished, he was no longer good for the bottom line, not because the shoe company is taking a principled stand against mistreating marginalized groups.

Last year, Irving publicly criticized one of his upcoming signature shoes, pinning the problems on Nike. According to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN in May, Nike was unlikely to extend Irving's deal when it expired after this season, anyway.

So, this wasn't some strong business relationship undermined by Irving's recent issues.

Ime Udoka

Despite reports the Nets would hire Ime Udoka to replace Steve Nash, Jacque Vaughn remains Brooklyn's interim coach. According to Marc Stein, "strong voices" are urging Nets owner Joe Tsai not to hire the suspended Celtics coach.

The common suspicion: "Strong voices" includes NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Many believe Silver suggested/urged/forced the 76ers to hire Jerry Colangelo while Philadelphia was tanking for years. Especially considering revenue sharing, it's not good for the league when a large-market team falls well short of its financial potential. There have been reports about Brooklyn's underwhelming ticket sales.

I don't know enough about what Udoka did to assess whether Brooklyn should hire him. I know Boston suspended him the entire season. But I'm not assuming that punishment was appropriate. (Nor am I assuming it was inappropriate.)

The Kyrie Irving fiasco wouldn't be good reason not to hire Udoka. That's not fair to Udoka. If it'd be OK for another team to hire Udoka, it should be OK for the Nets to hire him. In fact, the way Udoka commanded the Celtics' locker room, he might be a steadying force amid Brooklyn's chaos.

Anthony Edwards

Anthony Edwards spent an entire offensive possession in the Timberwolves' win over the Rockets on Saturday standing still with his hands on his hips.

Edwards certainly isn't the first player to take off a possession. To the extent he was supposed to be a decoy on the play, Edwards had Tari Eason hugging him tight.

But Edwards' disinterested posture certainly looks bad. It reignited all the talk about his conditioning and displeasure with Minnesota's direction.

Tony Brothers

Spencer Dinwiddie said referee Tony Brothers called him a "bitch-ass motherfucker" while speaking to one of his Mavericks teammates during Dallas' win over the Raptors on Friday.

Players don't always speak as nicely as they should to refs. But players are in the heat of competition when interacting with refs. Blowups are understandable, and there are remedies – technical fouls, fines, etc. – when players go too far.

Referees are not competing during NBA games. Referees should be held to a higher standard of keeping a cool head.

Anthony Davis

Bill Simmons of The Ringer said there was "buzz" the Lakers could trade Anthony Davis. It sounds more speculative than based on real intel about the Lakers' plan.

Given the Lakers' history of catering to their stars, I'd be surprised if they trade Davis. He chose Los Angeles and remains a big-name, high-end contributor.

If the Lakers are keeping LeBron James and trying to contend for a title during his window, whom would the Lakers get better-suited to help than Davis? Which team would value Davis, 29, more than what he'd provide the Lakers? Draft picks won't mature on LeBron's timeline.

Even if the 2-7 Lakers continue to stumble, trading Russell Westbrook is probably the goal before trading Davis. I'd also guess letting Westbrook's contract expire then using cap space next summer to upgrade around LeBron and Davis is preferable in Los Angeles to trading Davis.

Cameron Johnson

Cameron Johnson is undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus, the Suns announced. The big question: Will Johnson have a repair or removal? As Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes explains, a repair has a longer recovery process. A removal allows for a quicker return but carries more long-term risk.

This is a significant setback for both Johnson and Phoenix. After forgoing a rookie-scale contract extension, the 26-year-old is heading toward restricted free agency this summer. The championship-contending Suns are down their starting power forward.

I wonder whether Jae Crowder – who has been away from the team awaiting a trade – might actually play for Phoenix now. I doubt it, but he probably should.

Kyle Kuzma

Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma tweeted Friday: "Can’t even tell the truth no more." Many people assumed that was in support of Kyrie Irving and the viewpoints Irving espoused.

Kuzma tweeted he wasn't talking about current events and said he was referring to a personal matter. Kuzma, via Tyler Byrum of NBC Sports Washington:

"It was unfortunate but my tweet got completely taken out of context," Kuzma said. "Probably a product of wrong place, wrong time for sure. Obviously, anyone that knows me, knows my character, I'm all about peace and love. I don't condone any discrimination or hate of any race, religion, politician or whatever you want to call it. It's unfortunate, it's the world we live in and how we don't think the same."

I take Kuzma at his word. I'd pretty much always take someone at their word on about a vague tweet, barring other evidence.

If his denial weren't enough, Kuzma even offered to tell the media about the background of the tweet, though he said his friends and family wouldn't appreciate that. Hopefully, the media didn't take up his offer.

Strategy Stream

Nate and Danny will be calling the Celtics-Grizzlies on Strategy Stream at 9 p.m. Eastern tonight. On election day eve, the League Pass stream will be free. Tune in!

-Dan Feldman