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Nike splits with Kyrie Irving
Nike has suspended its relationship with Kyrie Irving and canceled its plans to release his next signature shoe, the latest chapter in the ongoing fallout since the Brooklyn Nets guard tweeted a link to a film containing antisemitic material.
The shoe giant announced Friday night that it will halt its relationship with Irving, who has been suspended by the Nets for what the team called a repeated failure to "unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs."
The Nets made that move Thursday, banning Irving without pay for at least five games, and a day later, Nike made its decision. Those actions followed widespread criticism -- from, among many others, the Anti-Defamation League and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
"At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism," the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said. "To that end, we've made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8."
Irving has had a signature line with Nike since 2014.
"We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone," Nike said.
Irving signed with Nike in 2011, shortly after becoming the No. 1 pick in that year's NBA draft. Irving's first signature shoe was released three years later, and the popularity of the Kyrie line led to him making a reported $11 million annually just from the Nike endorsement.
The Kyrie 8 was expected to be released in the next week. Previous models of his shoes were still for sale on the Nike website Friday night.
Irving posted a tweet -- which has since been deleted -- last week with a link to the documentary "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," which includes Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories about Jews. In a contentious postgame interview session last Saturday, Irving defended his right to post what he wants.
Love leads Cavaliers
DETROIT (AP) -- Kevin Love had 21 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons 112-88 on Friday night for their seventh straight win.
Jarrett Allen scored 22 points and Cedi Osman added 15 as the Cavaliers had a 54-21 edge in bench scoring and a 58-24 edge in points in the paint.
The Cavaliers played without guards Darius Garland (knee) and Donovan Mitchell (ankle), who were both injured in an overtime win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
Cade Cunningham had 19 points for Detroit, but scored only three in the second half. Bojan Bogdanovic, who came into the game leading the Pistons in scoring at 21.8 points, scored six on 2-for-9 shooting.
The Pistons have lost three straight and eight of nine. Their last three games have come against teams with a combined record of 17-1.
Without Garland and Mitchell, the Cavaliers took their offense inside, outscoring Detroit 34-10 in the paint in the first half. Both teams were under 30 percent on 3-pointers in the half, but Cleveland's ability to get to the rim let it lead by as many as 21 points on the way to a 57-39 halftime advantage.
Blue Jackets fall in Finland
TAMPERE, Finland (AP) -- Mikko Rantanen scored three goals in his native country and the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 on Friday night in the NHL's second visit to Europe this year.
Cale Makar had a goal and an assist, Logan O'Connor and J.T. Compher also scored and Nathan MacKinnon contributed four assists for the Avalanche, who stopped a two-game skid.
Colorado blew a three-goal lead in its previous game, a 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, and allowed Columbus to tie it after taking a 3-0 advantage this time. But Rantanen put the Avs ahead for good in the third period with his second goal.
Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets in front of a sellout crowd of 12,882 in his hometown, Jakub Voracek scored Columbus' first power-play goal of the season and Sean Kuraly also scored for the Blue Jackets, who dropped their fourth straight.
The teams will play again Saturday at Tampere's Nokia Arena as part of the league's Global Series. Nashville swept two games from San Jose last month in Prague to kick off the regular season, the first NHL games in Europe since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rantanen made it 4-3 with a one-timer from the right circle on the power play at 8:54 of the final period. He completed his hat trick with an empty-netter, his seventh goal of the season, to the crowd's delight.
Alex Newhook fed O'Connor to score the opening goal with a snap shot past goaltender Elvis Merzlikins 1:36 into the game. Compher doubled the lead on the power play with by deflecting Devon Toews' shot from the blue line into the net with 7:36 to go as Avalanche dominated the opening period, outshooting Columbus 16-7.
Rantanen made it 3-0 just 35 seconds into the middle period.
Voracek reduced the Avalanche's lead to 3-1 a minute after Rantanen's goal on power play.
Laine got the Blue Jackets within one from the left circle at 7:16 of the period for his second of the season.
It was his fifth NHL goal in Finland after four in two regular-season games for the Winnipeg Jets against the Florida Panthers in their 2018 series in Helsinki, most of all NHL players in games outside North America.
Kuraly tied it 2:32 into the final period. The Blue Jackets outshot the Avalanche 39-36, but Alexandar Georgiev stopped 36 of those shots.
This is the ninth season the NHL has played in Europe in hopes of connecting with hockey-mad fans. Colorado played Ottawa in Stockholm in 2017, while the Blue Jackets played overseas for the first time since 2010, when they faced San Jose in Stockholm.