BANNER NUMBER 18 INSIDE THE GARDEN. ONE GAME AWAY FROM NBA HISTORY GOES SOMETHING NO TEAM HAS EVER WON. 18 CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUT THAT’S WHAT’S ON THE LINE TONIGHT WITH CELTICS FANS TRAVELING FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD TO SEE GAME FIVE IN PERSON. WE’RE FROM PITTSBURGH. IT TOOK US TEN HOURS TO DRIVE. I’M FEELING CONFIDENT. I THINK THEY’RE GOING TO GET IT TONIGHT. BUCKET LIST. YOU KNOW, LIFE IS SHORT AND I GOT MY FINALS TICKET YESTERDAY. YOU DON’T MIND ME ASKING HOW MUCH DID, UH, PUT YOU BACK? UH, 1400. FANS DECKED OUT IN GREEN HOURS BEFORE TIP OFF. JERSEYS, PANTS AND EVEN THEIR DRINK ORDER I GOT THESE MONTHS AGO. I MEAN, YOU DON’T SEE A TATTOO YET, BUT YOU WILL SEE ONE ONCE THEY WIN TONIGHT. EVERYONE IN AGREEMENT THAT IF THE CELTICS COMPLETE THE MISSION AND CLINCH THE SERIES IN FRONT OF THE HOME FANS, BOSTON WILL BE PARTYING ALL THE WAY UNTIL THE PARADE. YOU KNOW, I WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY FINE WITH GAME FOUR WIN, BUT EVERYONE’S IN THE CITY. IT’S GOING TO BE HYPE WINNING IN BOSTON IS GOING TO BE AWESOME. WHAT ARE WE DOING TONIGHT? IF THEY WIN? WELL, I’M STAYING RIGHT THERE. IT’S A COURTYARD, SO I MIGHT BE UP ALL NIGHT. AND WHEN WE ASKED THOSE FANS WHO THEY WANT TO SEE STEP UP, WHETHER IT WAS TATUM OR BROWN, THEY SAID LIKE THE SHIRTS INSIDE THE GARDEN, WHATEVER IT TAKES, IT’S A TEAM EFFORT FOR THE C’S
Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving reflects on tough time with Celtics, impact of Boston fans on NBA Finals
Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving snapped his personal 13-game losing streak against the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, but is now back in Massachusetts to play Game 5 in front of a fan base that sees him as a villain. Irving and the Mavericks trail the Celtics 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. If Boston wins on Monday night, they’ll earn a record-setting 18th championship. “When the fans are cheering, ‘Kyrie sucks,’ they feel like they have a psychological edge, and that’s fair. Of course, if I’m not making shots or turning the ball over, that makes it even more of a pressing issue that they can stay on me for,” Irving said on Sunday. Irving was an All-Star in both of his Boston seasons, then left as a free agent to join the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 a few months after saying — vowing, really — that he would be staying with the Celtics. There have been some interesting moments in his returns to Boston; he’s been routinely booed and had a water bottle thrown at him, while he’s been fined for making an obscene gesture and raised ire by stomping on the Celtics’ leprechaun logo at midcourt following a Brooklyn playoff win there.He shot only 35% in the first two games of these finals in Boston, averaging 14 points and four assists in his former home arena — where fans make clear that they don’t like him much. “I think in order to silence even the self-doubt, let alone the crowd doubt, but the self-doubt when you make or miss shots, that’s just as important as making sure I’m leading the team the right way and being human through this experience, too, and telling them how I feel,” Irving said. When asked about how he feels about returning to TD Garden for Game 5, Irving did something that may only further frustrate Celtics fans: He compared Boston to New York. “You just expect to have a magnifying glass on you everywhere you go. I don’t think Boston appreciates being kind of second class to New York in terms of the media capital of the world, but this is the media capital of the world as well. There’s a lot of history here off the court,” Irving said. Still, he acknowledged that the Celtics have something special here. “The community has integrated into the Celtics’ team. That’s probably the best way I could say it. The community is what makes the Celtics great here, the Boston pandemonium. That’s what makes this space so loud and so special, and they take pride in it,” said Irving. Irving also reflected on what went wrong during his time in Boston. “You have to show your respect here. I think that’s what I struggled with initially, was figuring out how I’m going to be a great player here while winning championships and also leading a team and selflessly joining the Celtics’ organization or the cult that they have here,” he said. “That’s what they expect you to do as a player. They expect you to seamlessly buy into the Celtics’ pride, buy into everything Celtics. And if you don’t, then you’ll be outed. I’m one of the people that’s on the outs.”
Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving snapped his personal 13-game losing streak against the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, but is now back in Massachusetts to play Game 5 in front of a fan base that sees him as a villain.
Irving and the Mavericks trail the Celtics 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. If Boston wins on Monday night, they’ll earn a record-setting 18th championship.
“When the fans are cheering, ‘Kyrie sucks,’ they feel like they have a psychological edge, and that’s fair. Of course, if I’m not making shots or turning the ball over, that makes it even more of a pressing issue that they can stay on me for,” Irving said on Sunday.
Irving was an All-Star in both of his Boston seasons, then left as a free agent to join the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 a few months after saying — vowing, really — that he would be staying with the Celtics. There have been some interesting moments in his returns to Boston; he’s been routinely booed and had a water bottle thrown at him, while he’s been fined for making an obscene gesture and raised ire by stomping on the Celtics’ leprechaun logo at midcourt following a Brooklyn playoff win there.
He shot only 35% in the first two games of these finals in Boston, averaging 14 points and four assists in his former home arena — where fans make clear that they don’t like him much.
“I think in order to silence even the self-doubt, let alone the crowd doubt, but the self-doubt when you make or miss shots, that’s just as important as making sure I’m leading the team the right way and being human through this experience, too, and telling them how I feel,” Irving said.
When asked about how he feels about returning to TD Garden for Game 5, Irving did something that may only further frustrate Celtics fans: He compared Boston to New York.
“You just expect to have a magnifying glass on you everywhere you go. I don’t think Boston appreciates being kind of second class to New York in terms of the media capital of the world, but this is the media capital of the world as well. There’s a lot of history here off the court,” Irving said.
Still, he acknowledged that the Celtics have something special here.
“The community has integrated into the Celtics’ team. That’s probably the best way I could say it. The community is what makes the Celtics great here, the Boston pandemonium. That’s what makes this space so loud and so special, and they take pride in it,” said Irving.
Irving also reflected on what went wrong during his time in Boston.
“You have to show your respect here. I think that’s what I struggled with initially, was figuring out how I’m going to be a great player here while winning championships and also leading a team and selflessly joining the Celtics’ organization or the cult that they have here,” he said. “That’s what they expect you to do as a player. They expect you to seamlessly buy into the Celtics’ pride, buy into everything Celtics. And if you don’t, then you’ll be outed. I’m one of the people that’s on the outs.”
