Celtics fans respond to Kyrie Irving’s return to TD Garden, comments on racism in arena

Boston Celtics fans came out to TD Garden to watch their stars in green tonight, but they also wanted to finally catch a glimpse of Kyrie Irving as a Brooklyn Net, in the flesh, after waiting two years.

“He was a bad leader while he was here. He quit on us while he was here. He made false promises,” said Celtics fan Austin Walker.

This weekend is the first time Irving will play in front of Celtics fans since he left for Brooklyn: injuries kept him off the court in 2019, and fans were not present for his last trip to the Garden, when he little sage and walked around the arena.

In a media appearance earlier this week, the former Celtics point guard referenced receiving racist comments from Boston fans during previous games in TD Garden.

“I’m not the only one who can attest to this,” Irving said at the time, and chuckled. “It is what it is. The whole world knows it.”

“I felt that Kyrie was trying to change the narrative. The way he said it, and how he was laughing? That’s a very serious matter, to make that type of allegation. I would have preferred that he made it at the time, so that we could address it in the moment and try to make change,” said Celtics fan Jovann-Dominque Cafua before Friday’s game.

Celtic guard Marcus Smart confirmed that he has also experienced racist comments at TD Garden the day after Irving spoke publicly. Celtics fans said they don’t dismiss the serious anecdotes about disgusting behavior at the arena, but took issue with how Irving presented it.

“I’m sure he has different motives we don’t know about,” said Celtics fan Dan Dunn.

“He said while he was a player here that he had never experienced it, himself,” Walker said. “I think it’s heightened around the league, with everything that’s going on. I don’t think it should be dismissed. I also think it’s very Kyrie of him to trying to change the discourse and the narrative.”

“Honestly, I think he was just trying to get ahead of the boos for the real reason he’s getting booed – which is that he said he was going to stay and sign with us, and then he left. That’s why he’s getting booed. That other stuff? I’m not denying that that happens,” said Celtics fan Marc Paretchan.

Paretchan brought his son to Friday’s game, who taped over his number 11 Irving jersey with the name Pritchard, for the Celtics’ current guard rocking the number.

It appears that Irving has even lost many of Boston’s younger fans.

“I liked Kyrie when he was on the Celtics, but he thinks the world is flat,” said Alex Black, a young fan from Newton.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3ftapST