Former NFL superstar and current TV commentator Shannon Sharpe hasn’t gone easy on embattled Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving. But with the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA trying to exact retribution from Irving for his controversial (and widely condemned) sharing of an allegedly anti-Semitic film on his social media accounts, Sharpe thinks the pendulum has swung too far back the other way.
I’ve been very critical of Kyrie, but what Brooklyn is doing is a bit much. pic.twitter.com/Pe5tBXWb9C
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) November 8, 2022
With Irving having (albeit reluctantly) issued an apology after learning of his 5-game suspension without pay, Sharpe is now joining the “enough is enough” school concerning Irving and the supposed piling on about Irving’s actions.
The trigger for Sharpe’s comments is the full range of what Nets owner Joe Tsai says Irving must do to gain reinstatement to the team, a range which includes so-called “sensitivity training.”
“They gave him a manifesto,” Sharpe says.
Sharpe believes other public figures in a similar position wouldn’t have to jump through the same number of hoops Irving is being made to jump through. And Sharpe makes clear he believes the Nets are overstepping their authority, both practically and ethically.
“I believe they’re trying to rob the man of his dignity,” Sharpe says of the Nets and Irving. “They’re trying to make him grovel to come get his job back, and I don’t agree with that.”
Below are the two common definitions of “grovel” in online dictionaries. What do you think?
- lie or crawl abjectly on the ground with one’s face downward
- act in an obsequious way in order to obtain someone’s forgiveness or favor
