Nets' Kyrie Irving hints at racist jeering from Celtics fans ahead of playoff return to Boston
It was a foregone conclusion that Kyrie Irving would be booed and jeered throughout Game 3 when he returns to Boston for the Nets’ first-round playoff series against the Celtics. But Irving upped the stakes when he accused Boston fans of engaging in "racism" following the Nets’ Game 2 win over the Celtics on Tuesday that gave them a 2-0 lead in the series.
After the Nets’ 130-108 Game 2 victory in which Irving scored a mere 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting and added six rebounds and six assists, he was asked about what it might be like to return to Boston for Game 3 on Friday night. Irving played for the Celtics from 2017-19 and said at one point that he would like to be a Celtic for life.
But he left in free agency in June 2019 to join the Nets, which was the team he grew up rooting for when they were located near his home in South Orange, New Jersey. Since signing with the Nets, Irving has played one game in Boston with no fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.
Asked how it might feel to return to Boston, Irving said, "It’s not my first time being an opponent in Boston. So I am just looking forward to competing with my teammates, and hopefully, we can just keep it strictly basketball."
Then, Irving dived into a political topic that has consumed basketball in Boston for decades. "There’s no belligerence or racism going on," Irving said of his hopes for the social climate. "People yelling \[expletive\] 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."
In a follow-up question, Irving was asked if he ever experienced racism in Boston. "I am not the only one who can attest to this," Irving began. Throwing his hands in the air, Irving added, "It is just, you know ... It is what it is. The world knows it."
Irving is far from the first athlete to express his displeasure with the way many African-American athletes have been treated in Boston, where many fans never have hesitated to voice their racial opinions.
Two years ago, when the Nets appeared in Boston shortly after signing Irving as a free agent, they were roundly booed. Irving wasn’t even in the building because he was home with a shoulder injury that ultimately required surgery. Yet, the crowd engaged in several anti-Irving chants and booed him as if he were there.
Irving missed that game in Boston as well as the next game after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Earlier this season, Irving played in the Nets’ 28-point win on Christmas Day in Boston. He scored 37 points on 13-for-21 shooting. But no fans were allowed at TD Garden because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also scored 40 in a win over the Celtics in Brooklyn in March and then had 15 points and 11 assists in another win over the Celtics in April in Brooklyn to complete a 3-0 season sweep.
A story that appeared in The Boston Globe on Wednesday that was written by a Black reporter portrayed Irving as a cancer in the in the locker room. And it essentially faulted him for leaving the Celtics for the Nets after previously saying he wanted to be a Celtic for life. So there is no mistaking the fact Irving will be walking into a cauldron of hatred Friday night in Boston.
Newsday made multiple attempts to reach Irving’s public relations agent on Wednesday to speak with him, but only one message was returned by email and Irving was not available.
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
