Kyrie suggests N-word led to confrontation
Kyrie Irving and the Lakers’ Dennis Schroder were both ejected after jawing with one another in the third quarter of Saturday night’s game, when it appeared Irving took exception to something Schroder said. Irving got into Schroder’s face, then also argued with referees after both were tossed from the game.
Irving, who will miss tonight’s game in Minnesota for personal reasons, later went on Twitter and suggested Schroder, who is Black and from Germany, called him the N-word:
“The N-word is a derogatory racial slur! It will never be... - a term of endearment - reclaimed -flipped NEVER FORGET ITS FOUL AND TRUE HISTORY!” he wrote. “Throw that N-word out the window, right alongside all of those other racist words used to describe my people. We are not slaves or N’s.”
It was the first career ejection for either player, a verbal spat that, for Irving, spilled over into the direction of one of the officials.
“No thoughts on that. That’s on them. They control the game,” Kevin Durant said of the ejection. “It’s on them to make those type of calls. It doesn’t matter really if we agree with it or not.”
Neither coach Steve Nash nor players offered any clarity on what issue sparked the argument between the two guards, but the Lakers outscored the Nets by 20 after Irving’s ejection.
“They were the team that gathered themselves after that, stay composed and went on a run,” said veteran forward Jeff Green. “They became more aggressive in transition, they became more aggressive in attacking the rim and that’s how they opened the lead up.”
ALIZE WILL STAY
The Nets have agreed to a multi-year contract with Alize Johnson worth $4.1 million. Johnson has earned their final roster spot as the team positions itself to make a championship run.