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The King has spoken.
Following the Lakers’ 130-116 road loss to the Jazz on Friday night, LeBron James answered questions regarding Kyrie Irving’s recent sharing of a documentary laden with anti-Semitic tropes and disinformation.
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“I believe that what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people,” James said.
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The Lakers star added that he can’t speak for why most of the league hasn’t spoken against Irving.
After roughly a week of doubling down, and not apologising for sharing the documentary, Irving has faced several consequences.
The Nets decided to suspend the guard for at least five games without pay, and Nike has officially suspended its relationship with him.
Irving released an apology to the Jewish community on his Instagram hours after Brooklyn announced the suspension.
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However, James acknowledged that the apology may be too little, too late.
“He apologised. But he caused some harm and I think it’s unfortunate,” James said.
“But I don’t stand on the position to harm people when it comes to your voice or your platform or anything. So it doesn’t matter what colour your skin is, how tall you are, what position you’re in. 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.”
James and Irving played together on the Cavaliers from 2014-2017.
The duo won an NBA Championship in 2016 against the Golden State Warriors, but Irving demanded a trade in 2017.
There is no public ill-will between the two, and James made it known he hopes Irving understands the gravity of the situation.
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“I hope [Irving] understands what he did and the actions that he took are just harmful to a lot of people,” James said.
“I really didn’t get into it too much. But, I understand that when you’re hurting anybody, I understand that. That is just common sense.”
James took a clear stance against anti-Semitism, and mentioned an October episode of his HBO show “The Shop” featuring Kanye West never aired due to West’s anti-Semitic views.
“We kicked that out of the archives. Because it was hate conversation going on there. And I don’t represent that. There’s no place in this world for it,” James said.
The 20-year NBA veteran made it clear that he is against hate of any kind, and claims that his stance is well-documented.
“I can tell you this, it’s simple. Me personally, I don’t condone any hate to any kind,” James said.
“To any race. To Jewish communities, to Black communities, to Asian communities. You guys know where I stand.”
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and has been reposted with permission
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