A rabbi claims that Utah Jazz stadium staff told him to stop displaying his pro-Jewish sign after the Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving complained about it
Utah Jazz fan Rabbi Avremi Zippel attended Monday night’s game between his favorite team and the Dallas Mavericks, toting an “I’m a Jew, and I’m Proud” sign. It was a bit of an answer to Mavs star Kyrie Irving, who infamously shared an anti-semitic video last year. When the player noticed the display, he allegedly asked stadium officials to have it removed.
A Sign With A Statement
There has been a landslide of questions rolling toward Kyrie Irving ever since he not only shared the controversial film but for being unapologetic about it. Since then, he has been labeled as being racist against Jewish people. It’s a tag he has tried to shake off – albeit not very aggressively. So, the rabbi decided to make a statement. And he got disciplined for it.
Zippel posted on X that he had no issue until Irving noticed the sign and alerted officials. He made it clear that it was Irving who pointed him out, and even commented on it.
“Kyrie saw the signs. At the 9:40 mark of the first quarter, he commented ‘no need to bring that to a game.'” The post continued. “At the next timeout, he went to Mavs security. Jazz officials came over and CHECKED OUR TICKETS. We were told to put the signs away. Weak sauce from so many…”
The Jazz Jump In
“Others eluded to the fact that Irving had gone to the bench, talked to Dallas security who had brought the matter to Jazz security, and that’s why the signs were coming down,” Zippel later said.
The Jazz stated that the sign was not disallowed because of its content but because it had caused a “disruption.”
“The Utah Jazz Code of Conduct is in place so that games can be played without distraction and disruption,” the statement read. “No matter where someone is in the arena, if a sign becomes distracting or sparks an interaction with a player, we will ask them to remove it.”
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