Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving has apologized for his antisemitic episode. But Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai remains an unrepentant Chinese Communist Party supporter and no one seems to care.
Irving has partnered with the Anti-Defamation League and issued a statement about how he was wrong to promote an antisemitic book and movie on social media. Irving is not the first professional athlete to post antisemitic content on social media, and he likely won’t be the last, but he has said he would “take responsibility” for the post and continue to grow.
HOW ADAM SILVER PROTECTS HIMSELF AND THE NBA FROM SCRUTINY OVER CHINA
One of the men who condemned Irving’s comments was Tsai. Tsai’s company, Alibaba, has been used to build “an intrusive, omnipresent surveillance state that uses emerging technologies to track individuals with greater efficiency” in Xinjiang, China, where the CCP was committing its genocide of the Uyghurs. He maintains that there are no human rights issues in China, and he allegedly tried to get then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey fired after Morey supported Hong Kong democracy protesters against the CCP regime.
Irving, who was already the target of media ire for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine, was condemned across the sports media landscape. That includes a statement from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Irving has become the most targeted figure in the Nets organization due to his real and perceived mistakes, but no one says a word about the team’s owner being a staunch supporter of the closest thing we have seen to Nazi Germany.
Outside of one ESPN profile that mentioned Tsai’s views of China and his company’s ties to concentration camps, you will find practically no mention of the Nets owner and his views of the Chinese Communist Party in mainstream sports media. Irving dominated headlines in the Washington Post and New York Times, but Tsai has only earned brief mentions for his public comments in 2019 about Morey and Hong Kong.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
None of this is to say that Irving did not deserve condemnation for his antisemitic posts, or even that the reaction was disproportionate. But it is undeniable that establishment media and sports media blow up instances of bigotry or human rights when it comes to the NBA up until China is mentioned. The Chinese Communist Party is the worst human rights abuser on the planet, but you will see more headlines if an owner supports the GOP than you will of Tsai’s support for the CCP.
Antisemitic social media posts are bad. Actively supporting an ongoing genocide (through supplying surveillance technology and providing rhetorical cover) is worse. Perhaps now that Irving has walked back his posts, we can bring the spotlight to the billionaire who pays his salary while parroting propaganda for the most murderous regime on Earth.
