UPDATED 5/27/21, 4:27 p.m. ET: During an interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Celtics president Danny Ainge responded to Kyrie’s comments, saying he’s “never heard any” player say that during his 26 years with the team.
“I think that we take those kind of things seriously,” he said, per NBC Sports. “I never heard any of that, from any player that I’ve ever played with in my 26 years in Boston. I never heard that before from Kyrie, and I talked to him quite a bit. So, I don’t know. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter. We’re just playing basketball. Players can say what they want.”
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Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets will be heading to Boston to face off against the Celtics in Game 3. While speaking to reporters, Irving asked Boston fans to not engage in “subtle racism” and said he hopes they “can just keep it strictly basketball.”
“I am just looking forward to competing with my teammates and hopefully, we can just keep it strictly basketball; there’s no belligerence or racism going on – subtle racism,” Irving said while speaking to reporters after Tuesday’s blowout game that saw the Nets win 130-108. “People yelling s---from the crowd, but even if it is, it’s part of the nature of the game and we’re just going to focus on what we can control.”
When asked if he personally experienced racism in Boston, Irving replied by shrugging and saying: “I’m not the only one that could attest to this. But it’s just… it is what it is. The whole world knows it.”
Game 3 will go down on Friday at TD Garden and it’ll be Irving’s first time playing there with fans present since he left the team to join the Nets, ESPN reports. Irving previously played at TD Garden with the Nets in the preseason though there were no fans due to COVID-19 restrictions, which will be lifted across Massachusetts on Saturday. Game 4 will also be going down in Boston on Sunday. Game 3 will see TD Garden at 25 percent capacity.
The Nets are currently leading 2-0 against the Celtics.
