A rabbi and grandson of Holocaust survivors told to put down a sign that read “I’m a Jew and I’m Proud” with a Magen David on it says he was surprised at the response of an NBA star and his favorite NBA team. The incident occurred when he sat courtside with family members and colleagues at a game between the Jazz and the Mavericks on January 1.
Rabbi Avremi Zippel of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, and a Utah Jazz fan, said he had been disappointed when NBA star Kyrie Irving tweeted, in October 2022, a link to an antisemitic film which included Holocaust denial.
“I couldn’t go last time he came here because the game was on a Friday night,” Zippel told The Jewish Press. “So I went [this time] with a sign that said ‘I’m a Jew and I’m Proud.’ If you go to an NBA game, you know players are focused on the game so I didn’t think he (Irving) would see the sign.”
But Kippel said that at the 9:14 mark in the first quarter of the Jazz vs. Mavericks game on January 1, Irving did see the sign as Zippel sat with colleagues at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“He said, ‘Hey nice, I’m a Jew too,’” Zippel recalled Irving saying. “I said ‘Nice, Happy New Year.’ Then he said, ‘Don’t gotta bring a sign like that to the game.’ I was surprised he said that. Maybe he was trying to get a rise out of me when he said he was Jewish and he thought I’d say he wasn’t. I didn’t say anything back to him. I let it slide.”
Zippel noted that Irving has an illuminati tattoo that has a Jewish star. In an Instagram post, he said that after Irving complained to Mavericks security, his group was approached and told to take his sign down, which he did.
The “documentary” film “From Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” that Irving tweeted a link to asserts that Black Hebrew Israelites are the real Jews. It states that “The Jews have established five major falsehoods which work to conceal their nature and protect their status and power…” with one supposed falsehood being “that 6 million Jews were killed in a Holocaust during World War II.” The film also states another “falsehood” is that Jesus was a Jew and another being that “The Jews are Israelites and thus G-d’s Chosen People.”
Irving’s tweet caused an unprecedented controversy and at first, Irving, who played for the Brooklyn Nets at the time, didn’t apologize, saying that he didn’t mean to cause harm, and he didn’t make the documentary. The Anti-Defamation League even turned down a $500,000 donation from Irving. He eventually issued an apology after the Nets suspended Irving indefinitely and he wound up sitting out eight games. Irving was later traded to the Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney Smith and three draft picks.
His tweet came in the wake of the bizarre antisemitic barrage by Kanye West, who changed his name to Ye and claimed in media appearances said, “I’m Jew.” He tweeted that he would go “death con 3” on Jewish people in October 2022.
Kippel said he was able to get courtside seats through a Holocaust survivor, in a bit of irony. He said he did not boo Irving and had checked before the game and believed there was no problem with his sign.
“Security saw me holding the sign before the game and didn’t say anything,” Zippel said.
He said Jazz employees told him not to hold up the sign, with some saying there was a policy to have no signs at all courtside with others saying it was due to what the sign said.
The Jazz released a statement saying, “No matter where someone is in the arena, if a sign becomes distracting or sparks an interaction with a player, we will remove it.” The Jazz also said in a statement a part-time employee erred in saying the content of the sign was the problem.
Zippel said it sets a strange precedent as his sign was about Jewish pride and did not have the word antisemitism or Irving’s name.
“Any sign then could be said to be a distraction,” Zippel said.
He also noted that thunder sticks are used by fans during games, and while they are not signs, they are used to make noise while an opposing player shoots a free throw.
“The whole purpose of that is to be a distraction to players,” he said.
Irving once said the Earth was flat, so some wondered if he purposely looked for controversy or was in fact antisemitic. Asked what he thought motivated Irving to tweet a link to the film, Zippel said he could not speak to that and his concern was the result, which was that people were influenced to watch a film that had lies about Jews.
“If I stood on a street corner and said ‘Black Lives Don’t Matter’ I wouldn’t expect people to stop and wonder how I came to that opinion,” Zippel said. “They would of course say it’s a terrible thing to say and it’s wrong.”
Zippel said he was disappointed by the response of the Jazz but he is still a big fan and the organization has fostered a good relationship with the Jewish community, including Jewish Heritage Night, which he said he attended a few weeks before, where he had the honor of lighting the menorah on the court at halftime in front of 18,000 people.
In November 2022, Jewish fans had shirts that read “Fight Antisemitism” at a Nets game at the Barclays Center upon Irving’s return to action.
As for the game Zippel attended, he said he was happy the Jazz beat the Mavericks 127-90. Irving scored 14 points on 6-14 shooting. He’d missed the previous 12 games with an injury. He is one of the most skilled players in the NBA and won a championship in 2016 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. As a member of the Nets, he had to sit out home games due to New York State’s laws regarding the Covid vaccine, as he publicly stated he did not get vaccinated.
About 11 months ago, Irving deleted an Instagram apology over the tweet of the film, claiming that he deletes things all the time and it was not meant to disrespect anyone.
According to Zippel, Irving complained to Mavericks officials and that is why he was eventually asked to take the sign down.
On a podcast, Riverton, Utah Mayor Trent Staggs said: “If that sign is distracting to NBA player, I think he needs a new line of work. I’ve been to many Jazz games where they’ve passed out towels that we wave and thunderclap sticks and many other things that I would find more distracting than a sign.”
