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Kyrie Irving traded to Dallas Mavericks, whose Jewish owner Mark Cuban spoke out on antisemitism scandal
(JTA) — The Brooklyn Nets traded Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks, a team whose Jewish owner had spoken up about the star guard’s antisemitism controversy last year.
Mark Cuban, known as one of the NBA’s most outspoken team owners and as a star of the hit TV show “Shark Tank,” did not comment on the trade that was the talk of the league on Sunday. But in the fall, after Irving promoted an antisemitic film on his Twitter account and at first refused to apologize for the tweet, Cuban said the eight-time All-Star was “not educated about the impact” of his online platform.
“If there was just some dude on the street corner saying what Kyrie said, or Kanye said,” Cuban said in an interview with the RealLyfe Productions YouTube channel, referencing the rapper Kanye West’s months-long antisemitism scandal, “you’d just assume they’re crazy and keep on walking, right? But when they’re a celebrity, you can’t do that, because you have a platform.”
Cuban, whose paternal grandparents had their last name changed from Chabenisky at Ellis Island after emigrating from Russia, said in the interview that he dealt with antisemitism growing up. He said that he did not think Irving had a “bad heart” in the wake of the scandal.
“I don’t think he’s one of those guys that would be in Charlottesville marching, chanting ‘Jews will not replace us.’ I don’t think that’s him. But I think he’s got a lot to learn,” Cuban said in the RealLyfe interview.
Irving’s promotion of a Black Hebrew Israelite film that made the false claim that Jews dominated the slave trade — and the way he initially defended the move — sent shockwaves beyond the sports world in late October. While an array of public figures and sports commentators immediately called on the Nets to discipline Irving, most of the league’s Jewish team owners did not comment on the fallout, and Adam Silver, the league’s Jewish commissioner, did not meet with Irving for about two weeks after his tweet.
Cuban more harshly criticized West over his repeated antisemitic statements in the fall, calling the rapper’s words “abhorrent” and referenced his mental health struggles.
Some NBA fans pointed out the new Cuban-Irving partnership on Twitter.
Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is Jewish. And he just traded for Kyrie Irving.
— Design MLB (@DesignMLB) February 5, 2023
Mark Cuban is Jewish.
That’s how good Kyrie Irving is at basketball.
— adil (@iamadilq) February 6, 2023
Kyrie Irving when he finds out Mark Cuban is Jewish and not Cuban
pic.twitter.com/UxeA4Vrz22
— Nathan T (@TikTikBoom_) February 5, 2023
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The post Kyrie Irving traded to Dallas Mavericks, whose Jewish owner Mark Cuban spoke out on antisemitism scandal appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.