UPDATED 4/19, 2:22 p.m. ET: Kyrie Irving has been fined $50,000 for “middle finger gestures to fans,” as well as “profane language,” Shams Charania reports.
See original story below.
The checkered relationship between Boston Celtics fans and Kyrie Irving took center stage during Game 1 of the Brooklyn Nets’ First Round series against the Celtics.
The TD Garden, the arena Irving called home for two seasons, serenaded him with boos throughout the game, which ended with 115-114 buzzer-beater Celtics win. Kyrie responded by flipping off the crowd on, at least, two occasions.
Irving was also seen telling a fan to “suck my dick” as he headed into the locker room.
He appeared to use the animosity from the Celtics faithful to fuel his incredible 39-point performance, which included 18 points in the fourth quarter. However, it was Irving who got double-teamed late in the Nets’ last possession, forcing Kevin Durant to take a tough, contested three-pointer with the shot clock expiring. It was also Kyrie who got caught near the basket on the Celtics’ last possession, allowing Jayson Tatum to pirouette his way to the basket for the easy game-winning layup as time expired.
After the game, Irving explained why he chose to engage with Celtics fans, and implied that he was called a verity of expletives.
“When people start yelling p*ssy and b*tch and f*ck you, there’s only so much you can take as a competitor…Nah f*ck that, that’s the playoffs, it is what it is,” he said. “I know what to expect in here and I’m ready to give the same energy back to them.”
Irving went on to describe his interactions with fans as “fun,” and just another part of playoff basketball. “But this isn’t my first time in TD Garden, so what you guys saw and what you guys think is entertainment, or the fans think is entertainment, all is fair in competition,” he added. “So if somebody’s gonna call me out of my name, imma look at them straight in the eye and see if they’re really about it. Most of the time they’re not.”
“Embrace it,” Irving said of the crowd’s energy. “It’s the dark side. Embrace it.”
Prior to the series, Irving said he wanted to “move past” his Boston era.
Of course, anyone familiar with their history knows that it can best be described as “checkered.” In 2021, Irving stomped on the face of the Celtics’ logo, which didn’t sit well with the Boston faithful.
Following a visit to Boston earlier this year, Irving compared Celtics fans to a scorned girlfriend. “I know it’s going to be like that the rest of my career coming in here. It’s like the scorned girlfriend who wants an explanation on why I left but still hoping for a text back,” he said. “I’m just like, ‘It was fun while it lasted.’”
Check out some notable reactions to Irving’s wild day below.
