“They’re trying to rob a man of his dignity” - Shannon Sharpe criticizes Brooklyn Nets for their unjust demands from Kyrie Irving

The Brooklyn Nets have suspended Kyrie Irving indefinitely and have laid out some conditions for him to return to the team. Aside from apologizing, the team wants him to attend sensitivity training and antisemitism training, among other conditions to get reinstated. There are people who feel like this is a little excessive.

On FS1’s “Undisputed” hosted by Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless, the hosts discussed these conditions. Sharpe does not feel that these terms are fair and that the Nets are attempting to make an example out of Kyrie Irving.

“They’re trying to rob a man of his dignity” - Shannon Sharpe

Sharpe is not alone in his thoughts and it may be a fair criticism of the Nets. Kyrie appears to be a proud man and doesn’t compromise much. Will he meet all of these conditions to facilitate his return? Is the Nets asking for too much with respect to what the offense was? All of these are fair questions and someone from the organization should have to answer them.

Per reporting by Shams Charania, there are six conditions that Irving must meet. Some of which were already laid out in the team’s official statement before Irving spoke to the press.

These demands have drawn criticism from others in the sports media like Sharpe. Jay Williams of ESPN also shared that he doesn’t think what is happening to Irving is fair. The Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown has expressed his discomfort with Kyrie's punishment. Both he and Irving are apart of the NBA’s union and Brown says that the NBPA may appeal the suspension.

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Where to the Nets and Irving Go From Here

The relationship between the Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving is broken. The Nets' new conditions for Irving to return to the team seems like something that will only strain the relationship even more.

This summer, the two parties were not on the same page which saw Kyrie searching for a possible trade. He was not offered a long-term extension by the team. Generally, All-Star level players get a long-term deal in the last year of their contract. Irving exercised his player’s option on his contract.

The issues with the team started back in January of 2021 when Irving took a hiatus from the team. Then during the 2021-22 season, he did not take the Covid-19 vaccine causing to miss most of the season. This is Irving’s fourth season with the team and he has only appeared in 111 games so far.

This is a team that already has issues with other players like Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons. The Nets also do not know at this time who their permanent head coach will be. All of these things coming together seems like bad timing for an issue with Irving.