NEW YORK – Be careful what you wish for. That adage is probably appropriate when it comes to Kyrie Irving and his misguided, misinformed and downright dangerous support of anti-semitism.

Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks, in announcing the firing of coach Steve Nash on Tuesday, tried to say Irving’s sorry-not-sorry stance over the anti-semitic posts he made on social media had nothing to do with the National Basketball Association (NBA) team’s decision.

He said no players were consulted and he urged reporters not to link the coaching change and Irving’s posts.

But it is hard to separate Irving from the disaster the Nets have become, even though they were hyped before the season as possible title contenders.

His offensive posts, while no longer online, have clearly overshadowed the Nets and the league. Some courtside fans wore T-shirts reading “Fight Antisemitism” at a home game on Monday against the Indiana Pacers, and Marks said that the team had been asking for advice from the Anti-Defamation League.

By Wednesday, the Nets said in a statement that the team and Irving would each donate US$500,000 (S$711,000) “toward causes and organisations that work to eradicate hate and intolerance in our communities”.

It is a positive step but the NBA should be ashamed one of its franchises had to resort to such a dialogue.

Irving simply needs to consider the power of his words and his role in spreading dangerous messages to millions.

The guard is a basketball star with a megaphone. Nike sponsors him and produces his signature shoe. He is a vice-president of the NBA players’ union. He also has 22 million followers on Twitter and Instagram.

He can use his platform for good, which he has done as one of the many famed Black athletes who stood against injustice during the tumult of 2020 following the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.

But, unfortunately, he can also do as he has done now – use his status to inject poison into our world.

Irving last week shared with his social media followers a link to a film that is a case study in anti-semitic tropes and the disgusting narratives that have dogged and harmed Jews for generations.

He went on to double down, casting himself as a victim of reporters and anyone else who dares to ask about his support of hatred.

“Why are you dehumanising me?” he said after Saturday’s game, claiming he did nothing wrong and denying any responsibility.

In the statement on Wednesday, Irving said he and his family meant “no harm to any one group, race or religion of people”.

“I am aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community, and I take responsibility,” he said. “I do not believe everything said in the documentary was true or reflects my morals and principles.”

It was easy to shrug him off as eccentric when he claimed with a straight face that the Earth is flat. He is clearly a man easily duped into following conspiratorial thinking and who fails to vet or think critically about the information he consumes.

He held tight to his anti-vaccination beliefs during the pandemic and refused to follow science during a public health crisis that has killed more than one million Americans and decimated Black and Brown communities that Irving claims to care for.

The NBA should consider the ramifications of having him in the league.

“Let’s acknowledge that Kyrie is a basketball player, not a scholar, a subject matter expert on these issues,” Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said on Tuesday. “On the other hand, he’s a role model, one of the most beloved players in the league, let alone in Brooklyn. And I say that because when he tweets, it says something, and it sends signals, and people listen to him.” NYTIMES