Kareem Abdul-Jabbar criticizes Kyrie Irving over Alex Jones video

by Olafimihan Oshin - 10/03/22 6:41 PM ET

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is criticizing Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving for sharing a conspiracy video from InfoWars host Alex Jones, calling for companies to drop their sponsorship deals with Irving.

In a Substack column published Monday, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer wrote that it’s time to leave Irving “to stew in his own gelatinous ignorance,” adding that his sharing of the Jones video on social media is “destructive, insensitive, and just plain silly.”

Irving, a 30-year-old basketball player, has caught heat for sharing a 2002 video of Jones, who has been embroiled in lawsuits for saying the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, explaining the “New World Order” conspiracy theory.

“But now Irving is back and more destructive, insensitive, and just plain silly than before. He decided it would be a good idea to post a 2002 video clip from Infowars founder Alex Jones. Yeah, the guy who has been on trial for denying the Sandy Hook shootings and who previously admitted in open court that he’s a performer and his onscreen persona is just a character (that bilks millions of dollars from unaware viewers). The main gist of the clip is a warning about a cabal of international leaders who are secretly releasing plagues on the world from which they can profit. (Of course, we know who really profits from making this claim,)” the 75-year-old Abdul-Jabbar wrote in his column.

“Alex Jones is one of the most despicable human beings alive and to associate with him means you share his stench.”

Abdul-Jabbar wrote that Irving’s antics have tarnished the reputations of other athletes who used their platforms in an effort to improve societal standards, urging readers to write to Irving’s sponsors, Pepsi and 2K Sports, to drop their deals, noting that the star athlete “does not seem to have the capacity to change.”

The six-time league MVP has called out Irving before, penning a column last year where he criticized him for his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Irving, who was the main face of vaccine resistance among NBA players last season, recently said that COVID-19 vaccine mandates were “one the biggest violations of human rights in history.”