Whitlock: The NBA and Adam Silver remind Kyrie Irving to ignore God and obey money

I wish they’d all just admit it. Adam Silver, Roger Goodell, Phil Knight, the executives running the TV networks in bed with the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL.

Professional sports are hostile to religious faith. Just admit it.

The widespread, orchestrated rebuke of Kyrie Irving has nothing to do with anti-Semitism and everything to do with removing faith in God from sports. Admit it.

You will never convince me that the controversy that has sidelined Irving’s 2022 basketball season is about a 2018 documentary. No way. Neither is it about Irving’s assumed position on the true origins of black Americans. Not buying it.

“Hebrews to Negroes,” the so-called sequel to Adolf Hitler’s anti-Jew manifesto "Mein Kampf," is too confusing, too boring, and too dated to justify the relentless public trashing of Irving and his reputation.

The flogging of Kyrie is a message to athletes that their multimillion-dollar paychecks are dependent on their willingness to serve money above God.

The sports world no longer tolerates legitimate religious faith. Faith made Muhammad Ali refuse military induction. Faith compelled Martin Luther King Jr. to demand equal rights. Faith motivated white men to sacrifice their lives in the Civil War for the freedom of black people.

People of faith cannot be controlled. We live in a time when the elite seek unprecedented control of the American people. They want to tell us when we can worship, which experimental medical trials we must take, when we must wear a mask, which politicians we can support, and what is OK for us to think.

Kyrie Irving’s religious faith – no matter how misguided – makes him impossible to control. He wouldn’t take the vaccine and missed a significant portion of last season because of that decision. He’s refusing to fully grovel and beg forgiveness for a thought crime allegedly committed against Jewish people.

Irving’s mind is “diseased” with religious courage.

Professional sports cannot tolerate that. The NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB climbed into partnership with the secular left, Black Lives Matter, and the other political descendants of Karl Marx.

The secular left – the true bigots – recognized 60 years ago that religious faith is what made America great and granted all of this country’s citizens freedom and opportunity. The proponents of Marxism and its systems of governance (communism and socialism) are systematically detaching all American institutions from religious faith to stop the rise of another Muhammad Ali or Martin Luther King.

Live televised sports are the strongest influencer of American culture.

That’s why the sports world has been seduced into adopting the satanic values of the music industry, particularly hip-hop music. You can’t enter a basketball arena at the high school, college, or professional level without hearing commercial rap music. Football practices and 7-on-7 tournaments pipe in commercial rap music.

Commercial music is traditionally rebellious and debaucherous. Generally speaking, parents drop their kids off at concerts. In contrast, sports have traditionally been patriotic and moral. Families enjoy sporting events together.

Now Jay-Z is an important partner and consultant with the NFL. Dr. Dre and Snoop starred during the Super Bowl halftime show. NBA All-Star weekend is the Lollapalooza of hip-hop.

Under the pretense of diversity, inclusion, equity, and racial sensitivity, professional sports – like all of corporate America – have been radically changed. Religious beliefs are seen as transphobic, homophobic, and racist. Kyrie’s form of religious conviction is considered anti-Semitic and dangerous.

Irving tweeted an image of a four-year-old documentary and has undergone a two-week public trial for anti-Semitism.

Adam Silver, the Jewish commissioner of the NBA, told the New York Times on Thursday that he found Irving not guilty of anti-Semitism. You might wrongly conclude that Silver’s verdict is a positive step. It’s not.

The public announcement to the New York Times is justification of the kangaroo court proceedings that occurred. The NBA owes Irving an apology and the money it stole from him during his five-game suspension. The league owes punitive damages for the smearing of Irving’s reputation, which caused Nike to end its relationship with Irving.

Had the NBA ignored Irving’s harmless tweet, America would have continued to ignore the four-year-old documentary. Instead, the Brooklyn Nets and Silver stirred more racial animus.

What was the real purpose?

The purpose was to remind athletes, celebrities, and influencers to avoid taking any stance on religious principle. It’s the same reminder Democrats give black voters during every election cycle: Ignore what the Bible tells you about marriage, the sanctity of life in the womb, the importance of family, and gender. You ain’t black if you don’t support same-sex marriage, abortion, the disruption of the nuclear family, and kids and surgeons picking genders.

We’re being programmed to ignore God and obey secular elites.