Celtics

Why do Celtics fans boo Kyrie Irving? Recapping his tumultuous history with Boston

Kyrie Irving is one of the most disliked athletes in Boston sports history.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - DECEMBER 18: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets runs over the Celtics logo during the preseason game between the Nets and the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on December 18, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Kyrie Irving regularly draws plenty of boos during his games at TD Garden. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Last week, Kyrie Irving admitted to having a “rough time” in Boston during his two seasons with the Celtics. 

Granted, Celtics fans likely share the same sentiment when it comes to the uber-talented guard.

Once viewed as a franchise savior after getting dealt to the Celtics in a blockbuster swap with the Cavaliers, Irving now holds court as one of the most reviled villains in Boston sports history. 

Even though Irving has largely deflected comments regarding his rocky tenure in Boston — an approach shared by many of his former Celtics teammates — it’s all but a given Irving will be booed profusely as soon as he steps on the parquet floor for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. 

So why exactly is Irving held in particularly loathsome contempt by Boston sports fans, even to this day? 

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Let’s run through the timeline of Irving’s eventful two years with the Celtics, and all of the drama that followed. 

August 22, 2017: Irving traded to Boston

While the Isaiah Thomas-led Celtics put together a few spirited runs, Danny Ainge orchestrated a blockbuster move to bring in an elite talent in Irving during the 2017 offseason. 

In total, Boston dealt away Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and Brooklyn’s 2018 unprotected first-round pick for Irving, with the skilled guard expected to be the featured piece on a Celtics roster that already featured Al Horford and signed Gordon Hayward in free agency. 

Add in a stacked cast of younger talent in rookie Jayson Tatum, 21-year-old Jaylen Brown, 23-year-old Marcus Smart, and 23-year-old Terry Rozier, and Boston was seemingly set for the long haul with Irving leading the charge. 

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“I’m grateful and I can’t wait to get on the floor,” Irving said at his introductory press conference at TD Garden. “Boston came right at the exact time and it was meant to be that way.”

May 27, 2018: Celtics come up just short of NBA Finals appearance without Irving 

Irving and the Celtics put together a successful first season together, with Irving averaging 24.4 points per game and Boston finishing second in the Eastern Conference with a 55-27 record. 

By the time the playoffs rolled around, the Celtics had to trudge ahead without Irving (knee surgery) and Hayward (fractured ankle, dislocated ankle).

But the shorthanded Boston roster reeled off an impressive run, forcing LeBron James and the Cavaliers into a decisive Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Boston’s run came to an end against James and Co., with the Celtics falling to Cleveland, 87-79. 

Irving was not in attendance for Game 7 alongside his teammates, as he was recovering from nasal surgery. 

“Kyrie had a deviated septum, had some surgery on that, and so I don’t think he wanted to be seen,” Ainge noted, adding: “He’s a really good-looking guy. He can’t ruin his movie career.”

Things quickly went downhill for a Celtics team that seemed poised for a breakthrough season in 2018-19. 

Oct. 4, 2018: “I plan on re-signing here” 

All eyes were fixated on a now-healthy Irving entering the 2018-19 season, especially with the skilled scorer entering the last year of his contract.

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But Irving assuaged any fears felt by Celtics fans during an event with season ticket holders at TD Garden, declaring he planned to stay in Boston for the long haul.

“I shared it with some of my teammates as well as the organization and everyone else in Boston: If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here next year,” Irving said to a cheering crowd at TD Garden. 

The following day, Irving elaborated on why he pledged a commitment to staying in Boston. 

“I needed just some time to kind of be back in Boston and feel great about different things I wanted to explore in my career,” Irving said. “But I think the important thing was just being happy and having an environment where I’m challenged on a physical level as well as mental.  

“I can get better as a basketball player, as a man, and grow here. I do have a dream of putting my No. 11 in the rafters one day, if I’m so blessed to do that. Obviously, a lot of great players have come before me, but to grow my name in Boston Celtics tradition and history is something I’m glad I can do, and I plan on. … I do not want to uproot my family and just be dealing with anything new again. No disrespect to other organizations, but here is perfect for me.”

Jan. 12, 2019: Calling out younger players

It didn’t take very long for Irving’s stint in Boston to sour, especially as the Celtics went through plenty of ups and downs with a younger roster. 

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“Actually caring about … actually trying, in certain possessions,” Irving said after a loss to the Suns on Dec. 19. “Where actually down the stretch, it’s like for some games that we’ve played, we’ve tried. When we try, we’re in the game all the time. And then when we don’t, we’re clearly not.”

After a 105-103 road loss to the Magic on Jan. 14, Irving appeared to vent his frustrations about the Celtics’ younger core and their missteps on the court. 

“What’s the big picture? What are we doing here?” Irving said. “These are things I don’t think some of my teammates have faced of just every single day. It’s not easy to be great.  

“So the things you’re doing, that you’ve done your entire career, of being able to coast by in certain situations, and you’ve gotten away with your youth and stuff like that. Being on a championship ball club, you can’t get away with that.”

Feb. 1, 2019: “I don’t owe anybody [expletive]”

It didn’t take very long for Irving to start to back away from his previous commitment to the Celtics.

With the Celtics stuck in fourth place in the Eastern Conference by February 2019, Irving was asked about whether his mindset had shifted from his plan to re-sign with Boston. 

“Ask me July 1 [when free agency begins],” Irving said on Feb. 1. 

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As for why he decided to announce his plans to stick with Boston in October?

“I think it was just the excitement, feeling emotionally invested coming off an injury last season trying to prove something, trying to be very much of a team-oriented player, which I am naturally,” Irving said.

“But at the end of the day, I spent the last eight years trying to do what everybody else wanted me to do in terms of making my decisions and trying to validate through the media, through other personnel, managers, anybody in this business. And I don’t owe anybody [expletive].”

Feb. 18, 2019: Meeting with Kevin Durant at All-Star Game

Celtics fans continued to feel uneasy about Irving’s future in Boston after a video surfaced of the guard chatting with then-Warriors forward Kevin Durant during the 2019 NBA All-Star Game.

Amid fears that Irving and Durant were planning on teaming up on a team with two max slots to take in both of their new contracts, Irving sparred with reporters over the video. 

“What I do with my life is my business,” Irving said, per NBC Sports Boston. “It’s none of yours, none of anybody’s business. So it’s a video of me and one of my best friends talking. And then it turns out to be a dissection of free agency meeting? You get that? Do you get that? 

“And I’m asked questions about it? That’s what disconnects me from all this. I have no connection to all that. Over a video?”

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Sure enough, Durant admitted in 2020 that both he and Irving formulated their plan to team up the following offseason during that All-Star Game meet-up.

“The All-Star game video where they caught us in the hallway. That’s when it was solidified that we were going somewhere,” Durant said during “The ETC’s” podcast in 2020. “They didn’t know for a fact where it was, but it was somewhere.”

May 8, 2019: Irving, Celtics fall to Bucks 

The 2018-19 Celtics season came to an end against the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, with Irving struggling mightily in the five-game series. 

With one foot potentially out the door when it came to Irving’s tenure in Boston, the guard averaged 20.4 points per game against the Bucks — but shot just 35.6 percent from the field, including 21.9 percent from 3-point range. 

In Boston’s season-ending loss in Game 5, Irving shot 6-of-21 from the field with one assist, one rebound, three turnovers and was a minus-25 in a 25-point loss to Milwaukee. 

July 7, 2019: Irving signs with Nets

Sure enough, Irving went on to leave the Celtics in free agency — teaming up with Durant and signing a four-year, $141 million with the Brooklyn Nets. 

It was a crushing result at the time for the Celtics, who also saw Horford sign with the 76ers in free agency just a few weeks later. Even with a young core still in place with players like Tatum and Brown, losing Irving — especially with nothing in return — was a tough blow for Boston and its title hopes. 

Dec. 18, 2020: Burning sage at TD Garden

After missing his first game back at TD Garden in 2019-20 due to injury, Irving drew headlines for his unique pregame ritual before playing on the parquet floor for the first time as a member of the Nets. 

Prior to pregame warmups, Irving was spotted waving sage around the floor at TD Garden

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“It just comes from a lot of native tribes,” Irving said after the game, per CBS Sports. “Being able to sage, just cleanse the energy, make sure that we’re all balanced. When we come into this job, we come into this place, it’s not anything that I don’t do at home that I did today. I saged last game, and I plan to sage almost every game if the opposing team will allow me to.”

May 30, 2021: A ugly scene in Game 4 

Irving’s first playoff series against the Celtics after signing with the Nets had several ugly incidents, with a fan throwing a water bottle at Irving’s head after Brooklyn’s 141-126 win in Game 4 of their first-round bout. 

“It’s been that way in history in terms of entertainers, performers, and sports for a very long time, just underlying racism and treating people like they’re in a human zoo,” Irving said. “Throwing stuff at people, saying things. There’s a certain point where it gets to be too much.”

Just before avoiding that water bottle, Irving appeared to stomp on the Celtics’ logo at midcourt — dragging his shoe across Lucky the Leprechaun’s face before making his way off the court. 

March 6, 2022: “Scorned girlfriend” 

Even before the Celtics and Nets met again for the second straight postseason, Irving acknowledged that he will likely hear boos at TD Garden for the remainder 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, adding: “The reality is I’m just grateful for my time in Boston. 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.”

April 17, 2022: Flipping the bird

The Celtics took care of business against the Nets in their rematch, sweeping them in four games in an anticipated first-round matchup.

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Game 1 of that series saw Celtics fans continually get under Irving’s skin, with multiple boos and jeers eventually prompting Irving to toss up the middle finger to the TD Garden crowd. He was later fined $50,000 by the NBA for the gesture. 

“When people start yelling [expletives] and all this stuff, there’s only but so much you take as a competitor,” Irving said. “We’re the ones expected to be docile and be humble, take a humble approach, [expletive] that, it’s the playoffs.”

That series marked the most recent time that Irving battled the Celtics in the playoffs, with the guard eventually being traded to the Mavericks in February 2023. 

More than a year later, Irving will try to topple the Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals — with Banner 18 hanging in the balance. 

“I’m built for these moments, to be able to handle circumstances like that, and I’ve been able to grow since then,” Irving said on Monday. “So of course it’s going to be a hectic environment, but I’m looking forward to it and I see it as a healthy relationship that I have with the fans.

“I almost think about ‘Gladiator,’ just winning the crowd over. It is good to hear the TD Garden silent when you’re playing well. They still respect great basketball.”

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Conor Ryan

Sports Writer

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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