Monroe-Woodbury High School’s Crusader mascot encourages school spirit. (Courtesy of “The Wire”)

(JTA) — The Detroit Pistons wished Brooklyn Nets star guard Kyrie Irving a happy Hanukkah Sunday night, the first night of the holiday.

The Pistons appeared to be trolling Irving, who recently shared an antisemitic film on Twitter and initially refused to apologize.

The scoreboard displayed both a spinning globe and a Hanukkah graphic with a menorah while he was at the free throw line.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The former is in reference to previous comments the controversial All-Star has made about the earth being flat. The latter appeared to be a pointed reference to the recent antisemitism scandal.

Irving was suspended for eight games in November after he tweeted an Amazon link to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” a documentary that promotes the false idea that Jews were heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade, denies the Holocaust and says Black people are the real Jews.

Irving initially refused to apologize, saying “I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from.” In addition to his suspension, Irving lost his deal with sportswear giant Nike.

Irving ultimately apologized, multiple times. As he returned to the Nets on Nov. 20, he said, “I don’t stand for anything close to hate speech or antisemitism.” That same day, a group of Black Hebrew Israelites rallied outside Barclays Center, echoing themes presented in the film.

Irving and the Nets got the last laugh Sunday, defeating the Pistons 124-121. Brooklyn has won nine of its past 10 games.

Also this season, the Pistons have helped celebrate the ascension of Orthodox Jewish prospect Ryan Turell, who plays for the organization’s minor league affiliate, the Motor City Cruise. The team has offered kosher hot dogs at the Cruise arena, hosted a Jewish Heritage Night and more. Turell, who has attracted dozens of Jewish fans to Cruise games, has been sporting a Pistons-branded yarmulke.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount