Kyrie Irving offers to pay NFL star’s fine for pro-Palestinian eyeblack

JTA — NBA star Kyrie Irving said he would cover an $11,941 fine that the NFL imposed on Houston Texans Pro Bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for writing the name of Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, on his eyeblack during Sunday’s game.

Irving said Wednesday on social media that he would “take care of his fine” in a post on X. In a later post, he shared photos of Rajab.

A guard for the Dallas Mavericks, Irving has been outspoken in his pro-Palestinian activism. He was also at the center of an antisemitism scandal in 2022 when he promoted an antisemitic documentary that denied the Holocaust and initially refused to apologize. He later apologized following an eight-game suspension, but deleted his apology post from Instagram after that.

Earlier this year, Irving wore a shirt reading “PRESS” to the NBA All-Star Game that was dedicated to journalists in Gaza.

Al-Shaair has previously spoken out against Israel. The NFL fined him a similar amount last season when he wrote “STOP THE GENOCIDE” on his eyeblack during a playoff game in January and an appearance on ESPN.

According to the NFL rulebook, players are “prohibited from wearing, displaying, or otherwise conveying personal messages either in writing or illustration, unless such message has been approved in advance by the League office.” The rule also states that the league “will not grant permission” to players displaying a message “to political activities or causes, other non-football events, causes or campaigns, or charitable causes or campaigns.”

Kyrie Irving says he will cover a $11,492 fine that Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair incurred for writing the name of a young Palestinian girl killed by Israel’s military on his eye black. pic.twitter.com/ljGY61LAhF

— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 16, 2026

Al-Shaair, who is Muslim, supported the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund through the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” program in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and has worn cleats that read “FREE” on one side, referring to the “Free Palestine” movement, and “Surely to Allah we belong and to him we will all return” on the other. The cleats also featured the text, “AT LEAST 41,788 Palestinians killed, 10,000+ estimated to be under the rubble, 96,974 wounded.”

The Texans named Al-Shaair winner of their 2025 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which recognizes “players who excel on the field and show exceptional dedication to uplifting their communities with consistent, positive impact.”

Last month, the IDF announced that it was opening a criminal investigation into the January 2024 killing of Rajab, named on Al-Shaair’s eyeblack this week. In the incident, Israeli forces struck a vehicle belonging to the Hamada family in Gaza City, killing five of the occupants, while two initially survived — Hind Rajab, 6, and her cousin Layan.

Hind spent hours on the phone with dispatchers pleading for help with the sound of shooting echoing around her. When a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance arrived at the scene, a shell was fired at it, killing two paramedics, according to reports at the time.

Days later, the bodies of the seven members of the Hamada family were recovered, including Hind and Layan Rajab, along with the two paramedics.

Pro-Palestinian activists have centered Rajab in their protests. “The Voice Of Hind Rajab,” a documentary about the killing, was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, and won a top prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival.

Emanuel Fabian and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.