LeBron James: Kyrie Irving Anti-Semitic Video Wasn't Asked About, but Jerry Jones Photo Was

It's been an eventful year or so for Kyrie Irving. The Brooklyn Nets point guard, who won an NBA championship with LeBron earlier in his career, attracted controversy last season for refusing to get vaccinated.

But more recently, Irving has been labeled an anti-Semite after sharing a link to a conspiratorial film that was full of anti-Semitic tropes. At first, he was unrepentant — but following widespread condemnation and suspension from play, Irving walked back his stance, issuing an apology to everyone he'd offended.

While Irving is a lightning rod for controversy and will likely be in the headlines again soon enough, this story has been quiet for the time being.

Jones is the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys and is generally regarded as the most powerful man in the NFL — which implicitly makes him one of the most powerful people in sports, period.

When Jones was in high school in Arkansas back in the 1950s, an effort was underway to desegregate the city's schools. In recent days, this photo has surfaced. It shows a 14-year-old Jones attending and apparently participating in a 1957 rally to protest the integration of Central High School in Little Rock.

For his part, Jones says he didn't support segregation and only attended the protest because he was "curious."

At a press conference, King James drew a link between the stories of Kyrie Irving's promotion of anti-Semitic material and Jerry Jones attending a pro-segregation protest.

The link is James himself, as he tells it.

"I was wondering why I haven't gotten a question from [the media] about the Jerry Jones photo," LeBron asked. "But when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that."

He went on to explain that he sees Irving as someone who's simply speaking his mind, even if he is misguided. The Jones photo, on the other hand, is a potent symbol of historical racism.

"I feel like as a Black man, as a Black athlete, as someone with power and a platform, when we do something wrong, or something that people don't agree with, it's on every single tabloid, every single news coverage, it's on the bottom ticker. It's asked about every single day," he said.

It's worth noting that LeBron isn't calling Jones a racist. In fact, he pointedly emphasized the fact that Jones was young at the time and it was likely a mistake on his part. But he's still frustrated that the media has seemingly held him accountable for the Kyrie Irving drama while ignoring the Jerry Jones photo — a topic that James, as a Black man, would be well-equipped to respond to.

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