TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[The Jom]

Kyrie has plenty of faults. But regarding your specific points, he was banned from playing by the city of New York (who simultaneously allowed unvaccinated players from other states to play) and by the Nets who refused to let him play in away games. And to my knowledge, the extent of him "talking about Jews" was sharing a link to a Netflix movie on Twitter. Both have been heavily politicized, for sure. And I'm not claiming he's a saint, either. The dude has issues. But I also think he's not the evil character that some people have been led to believe.

It feels weird to defend anti-semitism (if that’s what I’m doing). And I don’t really want to be defending this clown. But . . . 

1. His anti-semitism appears to be extremely stupid ignorance rather than anything I could call hateful with a straight face. 

2. I don’t cheer for basketball players (or actors or musicians, by the way) for their smarts or social conscience. 

3. Whatever he’s done, it looks super mild in comparison to the late great Kobe Bryant. 

Will he work out here? I have no clue. But you all should recognize Tyler’s take on this as reasoned and reasonable. I hope the Mavs can also be reasoned and reasonable. They certainly have enough inside info to know (better than this board) whether the dude is a horrible human being or not.