On Friday night at TD Garden, Kyrie Irving suffered his 10th consecutive loss against the Celtics following a crushing 138-110 defeat to the Mavericks.
Former NBA player and now an American Sports Analyst called Rick Fox said that Boston’s audience relished watching him struggle as they mockingly booed every time he held possession of the ball during his poor shooting performance going nine out of twenty-three attempts made.
Despite scoring nineteen points in thirty-six minutes, Irving appeared unfazed by all the negativity thrown towards him from Boston fans post-game.
Irving stated that the audience is entitled to boo and expressed his understanding of their behavior. He also mentioned his recent poor performance against them, acknowledging that until he can win, they have every right to continue expressing their dissatisfaction.
Irving believes this adds excitement to competitive sports and encourages athletes to embrace it as a fundamental aspect of the game.
Despite Irving’s departure five years ago, he still maintains a close relationship with former Celtics teammates such as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Following the game, although fans reacted in varying ways toward him, the All-Star duo made an effort to remain impartial on the matter.
Honestly, I have no thoughts on it,” stated Brown.
The fans are entitled to do as they please and their reasoning for doing so is up to them. In my opinion, every player – including star players- who enters our arena should be booed by the crowd.
It would be interesting to see if this tactic has any impact or not; even when Jokic and other players visit us, they too should receive boos.”
Tatum acknowledged the fans’ response but urged everyone to progress forward.
Tatum mentioned that ever since Ky left, things have been the same. Even though everyone is aware of what happened a couple of years ago, he has an excellent relationship with him.
Some players who are still present and played alongside him also share similar relations with Ky. While fans tend to be passionate about it, all players have moved on from any negativity towards Ky without harboring animosity or grudges against him in any way shape or form.”
Having won on Friday night, the Celtics have completed a season sweep over Dallas. This means that unless they meet in NBA Finals and collide with each other again, they will not face Irving until next season.