Brooklyn Nets Favored vs. NY Knicks in ESPN Game Despite Kyrie Irving Absence

ESPN will be televising the New York Knicks vs. Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center tonight, where the latter going through the Kyrie Irving anti-semitism controversy is a 2-1/2 point favorite. And that is odd, even in the odds business.

The Knicks are coming off one of their best performances of the season, making a team-record 10 3-pointers in the first quarter and jacking up a franchise-record 48 in a victory at Minnesota. The Nets are coming off a loss at Dallas in which a missed free throw at the end of the fourth quarter by Kevin Durant deprived them of a chance to tie the game, and Durant was then out of position to go for a game-tying 2-pointer after Royce O Neal grabbed the offensive rebound off Durant s intentionally missed third free throw attempt.

https://twitter.com/nbabet/status/1589847605667831808

Brooklyn is now 4-7 and hanging with the Miami Heat as the East s biggest underachievers, and tonight s nationally televised matchup will mark the fourth game of Irving s five-game suspension for his social media idiocy. That includes linking to the film Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, which contains anti-Semitic tropes.

The Nets have set six conditions for Irving s return, and this drama will continue to unfold for several reasons. Many believe Irving will not comply with any or all the six conditions: A condemnation of the movie; a meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai; a meeting with Jewish leaders and members of the Anti-Defamation League; sensitivity training; ant-Semitic training; and a $500,000 donation to anti-hate causes.

The Athletic was the only media outlet to report anything of substance about Irving s Election Day meeting with commissioner Adam Silver, No details were provided.

Silver s less-is-more media relations policy has left everyone guessing exactly where this thing is headed next. The as saying the NBA Players Association plans to appeal the suspension, and Irving has a history of non-conformity and non-compliance that has frustrated every franchise he has ever played for.

His refusal to reply to calls and text messages from Nets owner Joe Tsai appears to have infuriated the team owner.

I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation. I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion.

Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999)

This is bigger than basketball

Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999)

Irving has been silent lately on social media, but that could change at any moment. Whether he plays again in Brooklyn or elsewhere in the NBA could be impacted by his next public move, and there is a school of thought that the Nets made the conditions for his return so onerous because they want to keep him away from the team and try to move him in a trade.

Irving is in the final season of an expiring $36.9 million contract, and his toxicity may be too much for the Nets and many other teams, but not all 30 teams. The NBA is only a few weeks into the 2022-23 season, and there are plenty of struggling teams that might take a chance on Irving if the price was right (raise your hand, Rob Pelinka).

After hosting the Knicks tonight, the Nets begin a five-game West Coast trip with a weekend back-to-back against the Clippers and Lakers in Los Angeles, and Irving will be eligible to play against LeBron and the horror show Lakers on Sunday night if a compromise is reached. The Saturday game against the Clippers will be Game No. 5 of his suspension.

It should be noted that Irving is stubborn and self-righteous, and he had a right as an American to voice his opposition to New York City s vaccine mandates, . At a news conference in Brooklyn, he defended his support of the film and an antigovernment conspiracy theory promoted by the Infowars host Alex Jones, calling them true.

“History is not supposed to be hidden from anybody,” Irving said. He added: “I’m not going to stand down on anything I believe in. I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.”

Irving had a contentious exchange with ESPN reporter Nick Friedell after the Nets decided to allow Irving to meet with the media. Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody? Did I harm anybody?, Irving said. I am not going to stand down on anything I believe in.

If you watch the entire video, you will not see Irving yielding any ground.