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For a moment in time, Kyrie Irving was on his way to becoming something of a Boston hero. It was the fall of 2018, and Irving, who had just finished his first season with the Celtics — averaging 24.4 points and 5.1 assists in 60 games — and was entering the final season of his contract, declared his informal allegiance to the Celtics amid concerns that he was going to leave in free agency.
“If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here next summer,” Irving infamously said at a fan-fest event for season ticket holders.
Irving did not keep his word. That next season ended rather embarrassingly, with the Celtics bounced in the second round by the Bucks in five games, over which Irving — who looked, shall we say, less than enthused about being on the court by the end of the series — averaged an almost empty 20 points on 35% shooting, including 21% from 3.
A little more than two months later, Irving signed with the Brooklyn Nets, and to say his relationship with Celtics fans went sour would be an understatement. In 2021, when Irving’s Nets bounced Boston in five games in the first round, a fan was arrested for throwing a water bottle at Irving after Game 4.
What was the fan mad about? Well, a short time before that, Irving scuffed his shoe on Lucky the Leprechaun’s face as he made his way to center court to greet his teammates during a timeout.
The next season, when Boston swept the Nets out of the first round in what would be Irving’s final playoff act in Brooklyn, Irving landed himself a $50K fine for giving Boston fans the bird during Game 1.
Also, who could forget Irving’s his first trip back to Boston after joining the Nets in December of 2020, when he walked around the court burning sage — a spiritual Native American ritual believed to cleanse a space — prior to the game.
So, yeah, there was some bad blood between Irving and Boston, and there probably still is. As Irving’s Mavericks get set to face off against the Celtics in the Finals, which begin Thursday, Irving addressed his time with…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2024-nba-finals-kyrie-irving-addresses-rocky-celtics-tenure-fallout-with-fans-as-mavs-get-set-for-game-1/
Author : Brad Botkin
Publish date : 2024-06-04 04:58:09
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