Kyrie Irving Clears the Air on Controversial Incident With Rabbi in Jazz Encounter: “No Disrespect…”

The Utah Jazz matchup with the Dallas Mavericks could have turned ugly for the latter. Rabbi Avremi Zippel, a prominent Jewish rabbi in Utah, came bearing gifts for Kyrie Irving. Still carrying a grudge for Irving’s controversial antisemitic comments in 2022, Zippel and his colleagues came to the game with signs that said, “I am a Jew and I am proud”.

The security in the arena had asked the squad to take the signs down as it interfered with the game. But Rabbi Zippel is confident that Irving was behind the incident.

Kyrie Irving denies the Utah Rabbi’s claims

Responding to the allegations, Kyrie denied doing or saying anything that contributed to it. “I wish him and his family well. No disrespect going their way. That’s not my MO.”

As detailed by Zippel in his X (formerly known as Twitter) account and in the interview given to the Salt Lake Tribune, he is adamant that the 2016 NBA champion was the first to initiate contact. Having passed through security checks with the “distractive” signs, nobody had mentioned or stopped the group to question them.

It was only after ‘Uncle Drew’ noted the sign that the rest of the procedures took place. A hardcore Jazz fan, Zippel had later commented that he was disappointed in the franchise for the first time. It’s clear that the incidents of February 2022 cut this rabbi deep.

Irving’s controversial year of 2022

The 8x NBA All-Star’s stint with the Brooklyn Nets has been a slew of controversies. From his defiant stand to not get vaccinated to the anti-semitic post that resulted in a five-game unpaid suspension. A quarter of Brooklyn’s population constitutes Jews.

Read More: Kyrie Irving Asked to “Just Focus On Basketball” by Frustrated Ex-Brooklyn Nets Star

And for Irving to post a link to a documentary that’s considered as being anti-semitic while he is a Nets member proved to be counter-productive. When asked to take the offending post down and apologize to the Jewish community, he stood his ground. During this time, Nike terminated their contract with him. At a later stage, Irving complied with the request, apologizing for his insensitivity in the process.

Zippel had also brought this to the forefront when he said that Kyrie’s comments from then were “vile” and “disgusting”. Suffice it to say, Kyrie Irving might have just dodged a bullet right there.

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