PHILADELPHIA — The setting sowed by Kanye West and Kyrie Irving — that antisemitic vibe casting a cloud over the NBA — has despatched Daniel Hazan into emotions of disappointment and doubt.
As the NBA’s solely orthodox Jew participant agent, Hazan has been compelled to ask himself just lately, “Do my clients think I’m manipulating them?”
“Do they think I don’t have their best interests at heart?”
“It draws a level of concern for me,” he instructed the Daily News.
It’s tough to gauge the sentiment of NBA gamers on Irving’s feedback or suspension. Former stars Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Reggie Miller all publicly condemned the Nets level guard, however energetic gamers have been eerily silent whereas the Nets, NBA and gamers union tread flippantly on Irving earlier than Thursday’s suspension.
Hazan, nonetheless a relative beginner within the company enterprise at 30 years previous, acknowledged he’s involved “without a doubt” about alienating himself by talking towards antisemitic propaganda. He’s additionally anxious about inflicting a fuss as a result of it gives individuals like Kayne West extra gas for hatred.
It’s an unlucky consequence of being proudly Jewish and working within the NBA proper now.
“That’s always an issue we have in our community — how do we address it?” mentioned Hazan, who represents NBAers Dennis Smith Jr., Tre Mann and Trevelin Queen, amongst different gamers abroad. “I virtually really feel like if you do tackle these areas of concern of antisemitism, it simply strengthens the extent of antisemitism. Because the response is robust. And the media comes out and sponsors drop you and there’s a suspension and it’s like, ‘You see, I told you.’
“So I feel it’s always a lose-lose situation when it comes to these things. Because when you don’t acknowledge it, it looks bad. Then when you do acknowledge it, it looks bad. The fire is continuously burning. What we all just wished is to get an apology immediately and put this thing to bed.”
Irving finally apologized by way of Instagram for selling a documentary stuffed with anti-Semitic tropes, together with the well-worn sewage that Jews management the media and the Holocaust is both fictional or enormously exaggerated. But that apology was solely after an indefinite suspension levied by the Nets and per week of Irving doubling down or deflecting in interviews.
“I’m torn between being in this business and wanting to build my name because I’m just getting started in this business,” mentioned Hazan, a New York City product who attended Yeshiva University in Manhattan. “So what am I going to do? Am I going to keep my mouth shut or stick up for what I believe in? It’s unfortunate that I have to be put in that situation.”
Still, Hazan additionally understands he can’t keep quiet. That was bolstered Thursday when the FBI warned of a “broad threat to synagogues in New Jersey.”
“All it takes is for one fanatic to see what Kyrie says and the way he feels — and all it takes is one particular person out of his 18 million followers who walks right into a synagogue with a gun and begins taking pictures individuals. Or walks right into a Jewish faculty and begins taking pictures individuals.
“Once a guy like Kyrie understands that impact, you understand why we take this so seriously. And why this is a very serious thing for us. A lot of people use the word scared. You may not understand it. But we feel a level of insecurity and it’s the result of these hate statements and what that can generate for us.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com