Firstly, I want to say thank you for your newsletter. For basketball fans around the world, your achievements, both on and off the court, have achieved a sort of mythical status. So it makes me happy that one of the greatest-of-all-time continues to write and share with the general public on a regular basis. I always enjoy reading what you have to say. (And I should note as well that you have inspired me to write for leisure—a hobby that I now hope to practice until the day I die.)
Today, I am writing to you about your opinion piece on
Sports: Too Big to Fail, Too Dim to Speak and your reflections on Kyrie Irving. I do agree with your sentiments. And it saddens me to say this because Irving was once among my favorite athletes growing up. As a fan of the Cavaliers, the team was, to put it mildly, difficult to watch after LeBron’s exit to Miami. Irving’s emergence was a glimmer of hope for this ramshackled squad. And his championship performance against Golden State will be etched in my sporting memory.
But I agree with you. His behavior and views about healthcare, science, history, and whatnot, are often ill-informed and dangerous, especially to the young and impressionable. I was hoping he would eventually mature and find his sensibilities. After all, it is easy to forget sometimes that these athletes are young men and women. They are still learning to navigate and understand our complex world. But Irving’s intellectual journey appears to be moving in the wrong direction. Perhaps the public backlash has cornered him into doubling down and isolating himself further.
I partially disagree with you, however, that “Kyrie Irving’s thought process is an example of what happens when the education system fails.” I know what you mean, of course. But to be more accurate, the systemic failure is far greater and broader than that. Irving’s sentiments, I think, is a microcosm of the mess of misinformation that plagues our broader society today.
The problem and solution cannot rest alone on the shoulders of the education system. The burden is too great. Although educators obviously have a role, it is deeply unfair to expect our teachers to solve all of the world’s issues. How much more can we expect from them given their resources? Rather, responsibility and accountability should sit with the ill-meaning politicians who exploit misinformation, conspiracies, and polarization for personal gain; the monopolistic tech-giants with little or no-incentive to improve the integrity of their algorithms; and the profit-seeking sporting and sponsorship bodies that routinely fail to prepare their young athletes as role models for the world. Teachers can only do so much. If the rest of the systems on which we rely remain broken, no amount of education will save us.
So how do we fight the “gelatinous ignorance” you describe? I don’t know. You suggest, for instance, that consumers ought to boycott Nike, Pepsi, 2K Sports and other sponsors of Irving. This is certainly ideal if we can galvanize shoppers to make more informed purchasing decisions. Unfortunately, the majority, I suspect, are either indifferent to Irving’s position or actually agree with him. Personally, I believe these problems cannot be solved until we know how to: (1) counteract the epidemiology of misinformation; and (2) rebuild the public’s trust in our institutions. Both goals will require excellent policy making, world class leadership, and collaborative solutions.
The last point is especially important. We cannot bridge the divide by continuously ostracizing the misinformed. That serves only to push them away. The solution requires empathy, reconnection, and a willingness to listen. Kareem, in this way, your letters might actually be feeding the problem. By lambasting Irving in such an eloquent way, you might be pushing him further into his own corner. Your newsletter, for example, has led to a trend post on the NBA subReddit—chocked full with hateful sneers and jabs at Irving. While we are right to disagree with Irving’s dangerous opinions, more progress might be made if influential leaders and mentors like yourself, Kareem, were able to reach out and nudge him in the right direction. Or maybe I am being too idealistic. But I do believe that any solution to misinformation requires some appeal to our inner humanity.
Warm regards,
Toby
Sources
[1] Sports: Too Big to Fail, Too Dim to Speak; <
https://kareem.substack.com/p/kareem-reacts-to-the-news-desantis-6ca#:~:text=Sports%3A%20Too%20Big%20to%20Fail%2C%20Too%20Dim%20to%20Speak>
[2] Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Kyrie posting about Alex Jones; <
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/xu2f65/kareem_abduljabbar_on_kyrie_posting_about_alex/ >