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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

Kyrie Irving finally returned back to the court for the Brooklyn nets on November 20. The Nets guard missed eight games due to a suspension for sharing a link to a controversial movie on social media. After Irving met a list of demands put forth by Nets owner Joe Tsai, the 2016 NBA champ made a comeback against the Memphis Grizzlies with a comfortable victory.

However, the chatter about his controversy still continues. Recently, former NFL star Ryan Clark has shared his take on the Nets star’s controversy.

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Recently, NBA analyst and Duke basketball legend Jay Williams joined Ryan Clark and Channing on The Pivot podcast. Williams was among the first media personalities to have spoken in support of Kyrie Irving. The former Chicago Bulls player received a lot of backlash for defending the Nets star. During the podcast, the hosts and Williams had a conversation about the controversial documentary that Kyrie Irving posted on his social media account.?

Ryan Clark defends Kyrie Irving

Clark admitted that he did not know a lot of people from the Jewish community growing up in Louisiana. So, the Super Bowl XLIII champ studied the controversial film in the form of clips and written materials before speaking up on the Kyrie Irving saga. He wanted to know what was anti-semitic about the movie.

READ MORE: Kyrie Irving Infuriates ?12-Year-Old? Stephen Curry Fans With ?Best Shooter in the World? Claim

Moreover, Clark felt that Kyrie Irving received extreme treatment due to his history of previous controversies. He said, “I also feel like, people attacked him because it was Kyrie. If LeBron James does that, that doesn’t happen.”

Ryan Clark believed that Irving was being judged on the basis of his controversial past. He felt that LeBron James would not have received the same level of backlash if he had done a similar thing. Furthermore, the former NFL star stated that Irving’s promotion of the movie did not mean the promotion of every thought that was presented inside it.

Clark wants people to be fair to Irving

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Meanwhile, Clark pointed out Kyrie’s controversial actions in the past might have led to people believing he was ‘strange’. The former Giants player listed out past controversies like Irving’s stomping incident against the Celtics in 2021 and his take on vaccination as potent examples. Clarke added, “I feel like they are not speaking about his current action. They are speaking from a point of how they feel about him.”

USA Today via Reuters

In other words, he felt that the world was being unfair to Irving, due to their past opinions of him. Now that things have calmed down a bit, Irving would hope to focus on his efforts on the court for the rest of the season.

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WATCH THIS STORY:?Kyrie Irving?s 5 most controversial moments on an NBA court amid ugly feud with Celtics fans

Irving is slowly coming back to form as he scored 29 points with one rebound and three assists during the Nets’ 112-98 win against the Toronto Raptors on November 23. Hopefully, he will answer his critics with his performance.