A rabbi and Utah Jazz fan says he was told to put down a sign reading “I”m a Jew and I’m proud” while sitting courtside during the team’s game against the Dallas Mavericks after Kyrie Irving complained.
Avremi Zippel went to the game Monday night with three other rabbis—all of whom were holding the signs—in the hope of sending a message to Irving, Zippel told The Salt Lake Tribune. Before joining the Mavericks last year, Irving was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets in November 2022 for sharing a link to an antisemitic film online.
“My grandparents are Holocaust survivors,” Zippel wrote in a post about the stunt on Instagram. “To say that I was disgusted by some of the things that Kyrie Irving shared with his millions of followers last year is an understatement. It felt personal to attend a game that he played in, fully present as a visible Jew.”
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Zippel said he borrowed the four front-row seats owned by a friend—also a Holocaust survivor—and checked over both the Jazz’s and NBA’s codes of conduct “with a fine tooth comb” before the game to make sure his message wouldn’t violate any policies.
During the first quarter of the game, Zippel told the Tribune that Irving noticed the signs and told the group: “‘Nice. I’m a Jew too,’” pointing to a Star of David tattoo on his hand. Zippel said he was annoyed, but wanting to avoid making a scene replied: “Nice. Happy New Year, buddy.”
Zippel claimed Irving then yelled to them: “Don’t gotta bring something like that to the game.”
At the next timeout, Zippel claims problems started after Irving “went to the bench.” Zippel says a security guard first approached the group and asked to Zippel’s father’s tickets, and then a second guard came over and told them: “‘You need to put the signs down.’”
Zippel claims a Jazz executive later apologetically told him that an arena policy prohibited any signs being displayed in the front row. The rabbi also alleged that a second executive subsequently told him at halftime that the Irving had complained to security, and that’s why they were made to take the signs down.
“The Utah Jazz Code of Conduct is in place so that games can be played without distraction and disruption,” the Utah Jazz said in a statement Tuesday. “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,” the statement said.
“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,” the statement continued. “As the next step in standard security protocol, the fans were asked to take down their signs... The issue was the disruptive interaction caused by usage of the signs, not the content of the signs.”
“I’ve lived through some years when the basketball the Jazz played on the court was kinda embarrassing,” Zippel wrote on Instagram. “And yet. Last night, for the first time in my life, I was really disappointed in the Utah Jazz.”
