The Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics basketball has announced that Kanye West’s private school, Donda Academy, has been barred and is no longer welcome in the group’s tournaments because of West’s recent spate of antisemitic comments.
Play-By-Play Classics is a private company that organizes tournaments where top high school basketball players compete against each other to showcase their skills. Over the years, the organization has featured 127 players who later became NBA stars, including such names as Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Anthony Davis, and Kevin Durant, the group’s website explains.
But now, Donda players have been excluded from the events.
US rapper Kanye West (C) attends the Givenchy Spring-Summer 2023 fashion show during the Paris Womenswear Fashion Week, in Paris, on October 2, 2022. (JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
In a statement, Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics said that West’s “words and actions violate our values as a company and a country, and what we seek to ensure at all of our events — a spirit of diversity, sportsmanship, inclusion, equity, and mutual respect,” according to TMZ Sports.
The basketball group added, “While we are firm in our reasoning for this decision, it does not diminish our heartache and regret for Donda’s hardworking athletes who will lose out the most as a result of Kanye’s actions.”
Scholastic concluded, saying, “Unfortunately, we cannot in good conscience host an organization founded and directed by Mr. West at our events.”
Recording artist Kanye West looks on during the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics at Chase Center on March 16, 2022, in San Francisco, California. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
West’s private school, Donda Academy, was set to participate in the basketball event on Dec. 11. But now that has been canceled.
It is a bitter pill for Donda’s top players, including Robert Dillingham and AJ Johnson, who have achieved top national ranking.
The hits keep piling up against West for his continued antisemitic rants in interviews and on social media.
On the merchandise side, both Footlocker and Gap stores have pulled West’s products this week. Adidas did, as well.
On the sports side, Rams superstar Aaron Donald announced on Tuesday that he has quit Kanye West’s Donda Sports, citing West’s “recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism.”
In addition, West’s talent representatives, Creative Artists Agency also officially cut ties with West on Monday.
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