Jaylen Brown Expects Kyrie Irving's Suspension from Nets to Be Appealed by NBPA

Boston Celtics star and National Basketball Players' Association vice president Jaylen Brown weighed in on the Brooklyn Nets' suspension of point guard Kyrie Irving for his promotion of an antisemitic film and refusal to disavow antisemitism afterward.

Brown told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe on Monday (h/t Greg Dudek of NESN) the NBPA doesn't agree with Brooklyn's imposed requirements for Irving to return to the organization, and he expects the NBPA to appeal the suspension as well as the terms of his return.

The Nets announced Thursday that Irving was suspended for at least five games for his "failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity" to do so. The team's announcement stated that Irving will not be allowed back with the team "until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct."

According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the Nets have laid out six items required for Irving to return to the team:

Irving is scheduled to meet with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday. Brown said he's been in contact with Irving and believes the checklist is too harsh.

"He made a mistake. He posted something," Brown told Washburn. "There was no distinction. Maybe we can move forward, but the terms in which he has to fulfill to return, I think not just speaking for me, speaking as a vice president from a lot of our players, we didn’t agree with the terms that was required for him to come back and we’re waiting for this Tuesday meeting to happen to see what comes of it. But we’ll go from there. That’s all I’ll say."

Irving's post was a link to a film that contains multiple antisemtic ideas, including falsely claiming Jewish people were heavily involved in the slave trade. When later asked to clarify his remarks, Irving refused to clearly state he didn't have antisemitic beliefs. He later apologized for his promotion of the film and his response in an Instagram post.

Brown further explained that the collective bargaining agreement doesn't have a clause addressing social media posts, so the punishment isn't fair in the eyes of the NBPA.

"The terms for his return, they seem like a lot and a lot of the players expressed discomfort with the terms," Brown said. "It was a violation of our CBA, we don’t have to going into details about that. But I’m expecting the NBPA to appeal and I’m expecting to see what comes out of this meeting on Tuesday."

Brown, who played two seasons with Irving in Boston, added that he doesn't believe Irving is antisemitic.

"He made a mistake. We understand from an outside perspective how important sensitivity is to not condone hate speech and not condone anything of that nature," Brown said. "It’s sensitivity to the dialect around that. We don’t want to stand up for somebody in order to not condemn hate speech, but I don’t believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic. And hopefully the NBA feels the same way."