NBA reporter apologizes for claiming media backlash to Kyrie Irving’s antisemitic controversy is in ‘poor taste’

After receiving backlash for initially attempting to defend Kyrie Irving from media criticism, Bally Sports NBA reporter Brandon Robinson has issued an apology.

There have been a lot of opinions broadcasted about Kyrie Irving since the NBA star linked a film that features antisemitic tropes to his social media accounts, but one of the worst takes was a claim that media backlash to Irving’s controversial tweet was in “poor taste.” That take came from Robinson, who tweeted his apology Tuesday evening.

https://twitter.com/ScoopB/status/1587538730059010050

“Yesterday, while doing live TV, I was thinking fast on my feet,” Robinson wrote. “Regrettably I made some offensive inferences which were not my intent at all.  I stand with my brothers and sisters across all faiths and backgrounds and I deeply apologize for my comments.”

The comments Robinson referred to occurred as the Bally Sports NBA reporter joined New York’s PIX11 and attempted to temper the outrage directed at Irving’s decision to promote a film filled with antisemitic tropes. According to Robinson, the backlash is in “poor taste” considering Irving is playing on an expiring contract. The reporter proceeded to question whether this would even be a story if the Nets were playing better.

“I think this backlash is really in poor taste because he is in a contract year,” Robinson said on PIX11. “I’ll even take it a step further. When you look at this instance here, if the Nets were 5–0, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I think that when you look at a team that is 1–4, and we’re focusing on the issue that is an Amazon Prime link that has over 1,200 reviews and four and a half stars, we’re getting away from the game.”

Robinson initially promoted the above video from his PIX11 appearance on Twitter, but has since deleted the tweet.

“We should be talking about the Nets and their dynamic more than we should be talking about a movie,” Robinson added.

The most common defense of Irving in the wake of his antisemitic post from last week is the opinion that he truly did not mean any harm. While it’s possible that Irving did not intend to cause any harm with his initial tweet, he was given the opportunity to explain or walk it back and he chose to arrogantly double down. Irving’s initial tweet was bad, but not understanding the impact it had might be worse.

I’m not sure whether Robinson was looking to provide a contrarian take or if he just wanted to defend Irving because he likes the Nets point guard, but the approach came off very poorly. For all the national outrage and media coverage that Irving’s tweet sparked, it’s entirely possible that most of the backlash is coming from people who have no idea when his contract expires or what the Nets record is. The idea that promoting an antisemitic film was going to just be overlooked if the Nets were 5-0 is outrageous. Robinson did, however, apologize.

[Brandon Robinson]