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Kyrie Irving compares Celtics fans who boo him to a ‘scorned girlfriend’
Irving acknowledged that he's likely to get booed by Celtics fans for the rest of his career.
Kyrie Irving returned to Boston for the fifth time since he left the Celtics in 2019 on Sunday. As expected, he was on the receiving end of boos and chants, the most common being “Kyrie sucks!” during the Celtics’ 126-120 win over the Nets on Sunday.
Irving believes he’s going to get that reaction from the Boston crowd for the rest of his career.
“It’s like the scorned girlfriend that just wants an explanation for why I left but still hoping for a text back,” Irving said.
Despite drawing constant ire from the Celtics crowd, Irving remembered his two seasons in Boston fondly.
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“The reality is I’m just grateful for my time in Boston,” Irving said. “Everybody in the front office, everybody in that locker room treated me well. Still have lasting relationships in the league that extend as a brotherhood for us and we still remain close.”
Sunday’s trip to Boston for Irving and the Nets was his first since Game 4 of the first round of the 2021 playoffs. After getting booed for much of that game, Irving stopped the Celtics’ logo at midcourt and as he was walking back to the locker room, a fan hurled a water bottle at him.
There was no postgame animosity this time around. In fact, Irving shook the hands of several of his former Celtics teammates and shared an embrace with Jayson Tatum’s family courtside before heading back to the locker room.
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Tatum was the star of Sunday’s game, scoring a season-high 54 points to help the Celtics win for the 14th time in 16 games. As Tatum and the Celtics surge, Irving remarked on how his former group has grown recently.
“To see the growth of a lot of guys that I played with on this team and seeing this core group back together – Marcus Smart, Al Horford, JB (Jaylen Brown), JT (Jayson Tatum). Then they added Derrick White and a few other guys. Rob Williams is maturing,” Irving said.
“I was with these guys when they were pups. When JT just got drafted and JB was in his second year. So, I just have a mutual respect for them.”
Irving, who’s been in and out of the lineup this season due to his vaccination status and New York City’s vaccination mandate, struggled a bit in his first game in over a week. He shot 8-of-18 from the field, scoring 19 points with six assists and four rebounds in 37 minutes.
One of the more notable moments for Irving came in the waning moments of Sunday’s game. With Brown at the free-throw line looking to extend the Celtics’ lead, the Boston crowd delivered another “Kyrie sucks!” chant. Irving smiled as the chant rang across TD Garden.
“Coming back in this environment, we know what it is,” Irving said. “I’ve just got to lock in on the mission and stay focused – not try to have too many conversations with the fans when they try to call me out on my name.”
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