Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving rejoined the staff on Sunday after he was suspended for eight video games following an antisemitic Twitter post.
Irving is presently listed as “available” to play, based on Nets spokesperson Aaron Harris.
“Kyrie took ownership of his journey and had conversations with several members of the Jewish community,” the Nets stated in a press release. “We are pleased that he is going about the process in a meaningful way.”
The Nets play the Memphis Grizzlies at 7 p.m. Sunday at Barclays Heart. Nevertheless it stays unclear if the seven-time NBA all-star will take the courtroom.
The reinstatement follows Irving’s first at-length interview since his Nov. 3 suspension. Irving throughout an interview on Saturday with sports activities outlet SNY stated he needed to “apologize deeply” for his now-deleted Oct. 27 Twitter post linking to the 2018 antisemitic film “Hebrew to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.”
“I’m not antisemitic,” he stated. “I never have been. I don’t have hate in my heart for the Jewish people or anyone that identifies as a Jew. I’m not anti-Jewish or any of that.”
He stated he had mirrored on his actions and beliefs within the weeks since his suspension, in “sometimes painful” conversations with Black, white, and Jewish people, including that he now could be conscious of the “the power of my voice, the influence that I have.”
As public outrage grew within the days following his Twitter post, Irving repeatedly declined to publicly apologize for posting the video and immediately touch upon whether or not or not he has antisemitic beliefs. He posted an apology to Instagram the day he was suspended by the Nets.