Charles Barkley & ‘Inside The NBA’ Guys Rip Kyrie Irving Over Post About Antisemitic Movie: “He Should Have Been Suspended”

On the day when Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash was fired after his team started the season 2-5, the talking heads on TNT’s Emmy-winning Inside the NBA found themselves talking about Nets player Kyrie Irving and the irony that, while Nash was fired for a record that may or may not have been entirely his fault, Irving has faced no official sanction last week after sharing an Amazon link to a movie that contains antisemitic tropes.

It’s not the first time Irving has shared information about a controversial video. Last month, the same day Alex Jones went on trial for his false claims about the Sandy Hook school massacre, the Nets superstar point guard shared a 2002 video of Alex Jones decrying a “New World Order,” to his Instagram story. Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — viewed by many as the greatest player to have ever graced an NBA roster — later called Irving out.

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“Alex Jones is one of the most despicable human beings alive and to associate with him means you share his stench,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote on his substack. Today, another group of NBA greats took up the mantle.

“I think the NBA dropped the ball. I think he should have been suspended. I think Adam [Silver] should have suspended him,” said Charles Barkley, who is himself no stranger to controversy. “They made a mistake… [and] I can’t believe we’re talking about this idiot.”

He continued, “We have suspended and fined people who have made homophobic slurs. I think if you insult the Black community you should be suspended or fined.”

In a much-replayed post-game podium debate with ESPN reporter Nick Friedell and others, Irving argued that he wasn’t promoting the ideas contained in the video, or even the video itself. He said that just posting a link the Amazon.com page for the film to his 17 million Instagram followers with no comment was not promotion, though the post later disappeared.

Inside the NBA‘s Shaquille O’Neal, who was an early Twitter adopter and currently has 27 million Instagram followers said, “You have to be aware of what you’re doing…Some people are conscious and some people are not. I can tell that he is not conscious. When you’re as great at basketball as he is, people listen to you.

“It hurts me that we have to sit up here and talk about stuff that divides us. We have to sit up here and answer for what this idiot has done. I stand for equality of all people.”

Host Ernie Johnson took a more macro view during the debate.

“I just think we’ve lost our way. I think in this country we’ve lost our way,” said Johnson. “We’ve lost the thought process of: If I put this out there, who’s it going to hurt?

“Where’s civility these days? Where’s empathy?” he asked.

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