The scandals that accompany the start of the NBA season continue to stir the United States, and continue to shine a negative light on those who are considered the face of the league.
It starts with the case of Kyrie Irving, who since he was accused of spreading anti-Semitic content, no condemnations have been heard from any senior player in the NBA.
The NBA has prided itself in recent years on the developed social awareness of itself and its players, but in Irving's case, many expected to hear the league's top stars criticize the Brooklyn point guard's behavior.
Tonight LeBron James finally addressed it.
"I am not able to speak on behalf of 450 players," LeBron explained after the Lakers' 116:130 loss to Utah, and broke into a long monologue: "Of course I condemn any kind of display of hatred, for any race - Jews, blacks, Asians. You know my positions on these issues. Kyrie has obviously hurt a lot of people, and that's a shame. I'm all for free speech, but if you promote offensive content towards certain communities, I don't respect that. It doesn't matter what color light you are, what your views are, or whether You are either my friend or not. I simply do not respect that, and strongly condemn it."
LeBron understands very well why Kyrie is being attacked, and why financial sanctions have also recently been imposed against him - just tonight "Nike" announced that it will cancel the partnership agreement with him, which is worth 11 million dollars a year.
"When you hurt so many people, it makes sense that there would be consequences. I understand that," LeBron said.
"At the end of the day, Kyrie is responsible for himself. He's the one who stood in front of the cameras and explained what his intentions are. Kyrie is a great person, and I really like him as a person. I don't know what he's going to do now, but he's already apologized, and I hope he understands how much he hurt In many people. None of us is perfect, we are all human and it is allowed to make mistakes sometimes, but we can only hope that he takes real responsibility for the damage he caused."
Didn't sound clear enough?
LeBron with Kyrie Irving (Photo: GettyImages, Katelyn Mulcahy)
And while there are those who criticize LeBron's insufficiently firm response, there is also criticism of the conduct of the team that is considered the spearhead of the NBA.
San Antonio has been known for years for its humane and progressive organizational culture, and many teams have tried to emulate it and learn from it, but in the curious case of Josh Primo, the Spurs also seem to be having trouble providing answers.
As you may remember, Primo, the Spurs player, was accused of obscene acts and flirting with the former team's psychologist, and last week he was unexpectedly released from the team, even though he is considered a promising young player.
The psychologist, Dr. Hilary Cowten, said that the 19-year-old Primo exposed his private parts to her no less than nine times, but the Spurs management did nothing about it. According to her, she complained against Primo already after the first incident, but all her attempts to get the club to take care of him He failed, and she was even turned down time and time again by general manager Brian Wright when she tried to schedule a meeting with him on the matter.
According to her, in the months that followed, her role with the team became suspiciously diminished, until eventually San Antonio decided to release her at the end of her employment contract.
Didn't respond strongly enough to the accusations?
Popovich with Josh Primo (Photo: GettyImages, Eakin Howard)
Tonight, after it became clear that a police investigation had been opened, Gregg Popovich addressed her claims for the first time.
"Anyone who was a part of the Spurs or followed the Spurs, knows that allegations of this type are treated very seriously by us, without any delay or question marks. I am absolutely convinced that the management people who handled this case before it was published, conducted themselves in the best possible way, out of great concern for everyone who was involved in the story, whether it's the accuser or the accused. We did everything to make everyone feel safe and at ease, and that's all I can say," he said.
When Popovich was confronted with allegations that San Antonio turned a blind eye to the psychologist's complaints and tried to sweep them under the rug, he again remained vague.
"The only thing I can say is that I guarantee that our organization has been handling such things in the same way for years. We must not say too much at this stage. I suppose that as time passes, more and more details will be revealed. We just have to wait a little longer."
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