What Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown said about Celtics fans booing Kyrie Irving
"I guess that is to be expected but none of the players have any animosity towards [Irving] or anything like that."
The boos aimed at Kyrie Irving on Friday night were relentless.
Every time he touched the ball during the Celtics’ 138-110 win over the Mavericks, Boston fans let Irving hear it. They also chanted “Kyrie sucks” loudly in the fourth quarter once the Celtics had put the game out of reach.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said he and his teammates don’t have issues with Irving, but can understand Celtics fans’ decision to boo the eight-time All-Star guard.
“It’s just kind of been like that since he left,” Tatum said. “Obviously, we all know what happened but that was a while ago, it was a couple of years [ago]. I have a great relationship with him. The few of us that are still here that played with him have a great relationship with him.
“We’ve all moved on from it,” Tatum added. “But you understand that fans are passionate and things like that. So, I guess that is to be expected but none of the players have any animosity towards [Irving] or anything like that.”
Irving played two seasons in Boston, in 2018 and 2019. He said that he planned to re-sign with the Celtics if the fans would have him back, and ended up signing with the Brooklyn Nets instead. He stomped on the Celtics’ logo during the 2021 playoffs.
Irving is 1-10 against the Celtics since stomping on the logo with Friday’s loss marking the 10th in a row.
Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said he’d like to see Celtics fans boo all the superstars who come to TD Garden, not just Irving.
“I don’t got no thoughts on it,” Brown said. “The fans, they do what they do and they’ve got whatever reason for that. I think we should boo every star player that comes into the arena. I would like to see that. Maybe it has an effect, maybe it doesn’t, but when [Nuggets center Nikola] Jokic and all those other players come in here boo them too.”
Irving acknowledged his losing streak against the Celtics and said the fans can keep booing him until he wins.
“A lot of the attention is on me, in terms of just the fandom,” Irving said. “It’s been six years. You gotta love it. But rightfully so. They have a right to boo. From my career record against them the last few games, I haven’t won. Until I beat them, they have all the right to continue to boo. I think that’s what makes the theatrics of sports and competitive sports fun. Just gotta embrace it. It’s part of it.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com