Kyrie Irving made the rounds for promoting an anti-semitic documentary on Twitter. The Brooklyn Nets suspended him without pay for failing to apologize for it, but he’s finally back on the court with them.
However, plenty of people around the NBA had plenty to say about Irving’s reckless tweet. Unsurprisingly, that includes Hall of Famer duo Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, who called him an idiot.
So, naturally, several Irving fans took offense in Shaq’s comments and insults. That’s why the four-time NBA champion took some time to explain why he said what he said and why he still stands by those words.
NBA News: Shaq Explains Why He Called Kyrie Irving An Idiot
“A lot of people took offense with what I said because a lot of times you listen, but you listen through emotions,” Shaq said on his podcast. “When I said ‘idiot,’ I meant you can’t do anything that’s going to blemish your name, you personally! You personally can’t blemish or tarnish your name, your legacy, your career.”
“I don’t mess with people’s religions and what they do,” Shaq continued. “You believe what you believe and you stand on what you believe, that’s what you’re supposed to do. But when you put yourself in jeopardy, you gotta be smarter than that. And that’s all what I was saying when I said ‘idiot.'”
“A lot of us when we get this money and we get these followers, we think we know everything. Social media is a powerful tool but you have to practice some type of responsibility with that,” the Big Diesel concluded.
What Irving did was objectively wrong, but that doesn’t give Shaq the right to insult him. Still, Kyrie should be more responsible when thinking about the things he shares on social media, given how massive his platform is.