NBA icon Kareem Abdul Jabbar is no stranger to picking up a pen and speaking about the state of the world and how other NBA stars use their platform.
After watching the headlines and comments around Kyrie Irving, Abdul-Jabbar returned to his Substack page to call out the Nets guard. Recently, Irving shared a dated clip of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones leading the Lakers legend to call for a united front to cost Irving his sponsors while labeling him “a comical buffoon.”
“Irving is back and more destructive, insensitive, and just plain silly than before. He decided it would be a good idea to post a 2002 video clip from Infowars founder Alex Jones. Yeah, the guy who has been on trial for denying the Sandy Hook shootings and who previously admitted in open court that he’s a performer and his onscreen persona is just a character (that bilks millions of dollars from unaware viewers).
…. Kyrie Irving would be dismissed as a comical buffoon if it weren’t for his influence over young people who look up to athletes. When I look at some of the athletes who have used their status to actually improve society—Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russel, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, and more—it becomes clear how much Irving has tarnished the reputations of all athletes who strive to be seen as more than dumb jocks.
Irving does not seem to have the capacity to change, but we have the capacity to keep fighting against his brand of destructive behavior. One way to do that, beyond shaking our heads and nasty tweets, is to write to his sponsors and tell them to drop Irving—or you will drop them. Nike has likely decided not to renew his contract past this season. But he is still sponsored by Pepsi and 2K Sports. (Don’t feel bad for Irving: his career earnings at the end of the 2022-’23 season will be $230 million. That buys a lot of Yes-people.)”
Last month, Irving posted a 2002 clip to his Instagram where Jones, founder of InfoWars and recently self-admitted fraud, claimed an organization of global leaders calling itself the New World Order is releasing plagues and diseases for profit.
