Robin Lopez becomes the first active player to publicly disagree with Irving / News - Basketnews.com

Before Kyrie Irving was officially suspended by the Brooklyn Nets, Robin Lopez became the first player to publicly disagree with the player, retweeting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's substack post.

Credit: AP - Scanpix Credit AP - Scanpix

Hours before Kyrie Irving was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers center Robin Lopez did a move that every other counterpart in the NBA was fearful to perform.

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Lopez unofficially became the first player to publicly disagree with the Nets guard on his promotion of antisemitism. Even though he did not post anything himself, the center retweeted Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's post.

"There’s little hope that he will change because he's insulated by fame and money and surrounded by yes-people," the Hall of Famer writes in his article. "There is no motivation to learn how to distinguish propaganda from facts."

Ever since Irving tweeted about a move that is widely considered to be antisemitic, both the league and its players were mostly silent about the publicly-widespread backlash for the player.

Yesterday, which marked almost a week after the initial post, the NBA released its first statement addressing Kyrie Irving directly. Irving is the vice president of the NBA Players Association (NBAPA), which has onlyreleased a generic statement on hate and antisemitismso far without directly mentioning or addressing Irving.

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