Radio host reveals when Kyrie Irving became 'impossible to defend'

CBS Sports Radio host Maggie Gray has covered Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving for over a decade but admitted he lost her support this past fall.

"He lost me with promoting that antisemitic video," Gray told Brandon Contes (h/t Reice Shipley) during the latest edition of the "Awful Announcing Podcast" released on Friday. "It’s unfortunate because there were so many people rooting for him. I think a lot of people, myself included, felt disappointed and let down. He definitely lost a lot of people that were in his corner." 

Gray was referring to how Irving earned what ultimately became an eight-game suspension while with the Brooklyn Nets this past November for sharing a link on social media to a movie and book that contain antisemitic tropes and initially refusing to apologize for that action. Irving eventually requested a trade during the winter and was shipped to the Mavericks in early February. 

Irving was, of course, no stranger to generating negative headlines before he was labeled by some as antisemitic. The 31-year-old famously became a headache during stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics and then appeared in just 29 regular-season contests in 2021-22 because he decided to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Gray, who first covered Irving while working for MSG Network when he was in high school and later discussed the polarizing star as a host on New York's WFAN, had his back throughout his previous controversies until November. 

"This can be hard when you work in this business long enough," Gray explained. "I had always been a Kyrie Irving defender. It’s like, hey, I met the kid when he was 17 years old. But at some point, it becomes impossible to defend. And I would never even try when you are trafficking the kind of things Kyrie was doing earlier this year. You are gonna lose support."

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd recently said the team is "going to do everything to keep" Irving this offseason: