Kyrie Irving Never Complained About Rabbi's Pro-Jewish Sign At Jazz Game, According To Rep

Avremi Zippel, a Utah-based Rabbi, attended the Dallas Mavericks - Utah Jazz game in Salt Lake City on Monday and brought with him a sign that read' "I'm a Jew, and I'm Proud." The sign didn't make it beyond the first quarter, however, after Zippel claims he was asked to put it away following a complaint from Kyrie Irving.

Holly Baird of Source PR, who represents Irving, shared a statement on Wednesday afternoon about the alleged situation:

"Mr. Irving, did not complain about the signage. It was the arena/Utah Jazz’s protocol to ask the courtside patrons to remove their signs."

"The Utah Jazz released a statement Tuesday explaining the officials’ decision. “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.”

OutKick has reached out to Mr. Zippel following Source PR's statement. Updates will be made accordingly.

Zippel shared a photo of himself outside the arena with the sign while explaining he felt it would be appropriate to welcome Irving to Salt Lake City. Irving was suspended during the 2022 NBA season for promoting an antisemitic film on social media. He also recently wore a keffiyeh during a postgame press conference, which is an Arab symbol of resistance and solidarity, and popular in Palestine.

Zippel, who was sitting courtside alongside other Rabbis, claims Irving noticed the sign early in the first quarter and commented "no need to bring that to a game" before claiming that Jazz officials then came over and told him to put the sign away.

The Jazz issued a statement about the sign incident after the game while referencing the team's Code of Conduct before pinning the blame on a part-time employee.

The franchise explained that their code of conduct would categorize the sign as a "distraction and disruption" and that the part-time employee who allegedly told the Rabbi to put the sign down due to what was written on it was incorrect.

The Jazz statement did specifically mention "an interaction with a player" which you could interpret as confirmation that Iriving did, in fact, take issue with the pro-Jewish sign.

“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."

“During an out-of-bounds play in the first quarter of yesterday’s Jazz game against the Dallas Mavericks, there was a group sitting courtside whose signs sparked an interaction with a player that created a distraction and interfered with play of game. As the next step in standard security protocol, the fans were asked to take down their signs. The part-time employee who told the fans it was the content of the sign that was the problem was incorrect.

“The issue was the disruptive interaction caused by usage of the signs, not the content of the signs.”

Following the Jazz statement, Zippel shared a lengthy thread on X, formerly Twitter, claiming that a policy not allowing any signs from fans sitting courtside was only put into place after Irving's alleged complaint.

Zippel also made the point that "there was one person, in a building of 18,000+, that was triggered by a sign that says "I'm a Jew and I'm proud" before voicing his disappointment with the Jazz.

"Sadly, instead of just quietly chalking this up to a misunderstanding and letting this remain a small blip, the Jazz took the side of said triggered player and doubled down. That’s just disappointing to me," Zippel wrote on X.