Recent Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and former Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett is was critical of Kyrie Irving's actions in Game 4 of the ongoing NBA Playoffs series between the Nets and Celtics.
Irving was seen stomping on the Celtics' logo at midcourt after the Nets' 141-126 win at TD Garden on Sunday (May 31) night, which Garnett, who played for Boston from 2008-13, viewed as disrespectful.
“So nobody gonna say anything about Kyrie stomping ‘Lucky?’ We just gonna act like we didn’t see that going on,” Garnett posted in an Instagram story. “You can’t do that. That’s not coo on no level .. All of us need to be better frfr (for real for real). I’m just sayin…”
The incident resulted in a fan throwing a bottle at Irving as he walked off the court, which led to the man being arrested and banned from TD Garden.
Prior to Games 3 and 4 in Boston, Irving, who spent two seasons with the Celtics before joining the Nets in 2019, said he hoped his current team will "keep it strictly basketball" during their road matchups against his former team, implying the possibility of being the target of racism by Boston fans.
"I am just looking forward to competing with my teammates and hopefully, we can just keep it strictly basketball; there's no belligerence or racism going on -- subtle racism," Irving said ahead of Game 3 via ESPN. "People yelling s--- from the crowd, but even if it is, it's part of the nature of the game and we're just going to focus on what we can control."
Black athletes have shared experiences of being the target of racism during games in Boston for decades. Bill Russell, who won 11 NBA championships while spending his entire Basketball Hall of Fame career with the Celtics, once referred to the city as "a flea market of racism," according to ESPN.
In 2017, Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones accused Boston Red Sox fans of calling him the N-word several times while playing at Fenway Park.
"It is what it is," Irving added.
Another person out of view of the camera during Irving's video conference added, "The whole world knows it," and Irving echoed, "The whole world knows it."
Irving had previously appeared in two games at TD Garden since joining the Nets in 2019, once this preseason and in a December 25, 2020, regular-season matchup, prior to Games 3 and 4.
However, COVID-19 restrictions prevented the Celtics from hosting fans during the two previous matchups, so Game 3 served as Irving's first game playing in front of the Boston fans since his departure.
Irving finished Sunday's game with 39 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists while shooting about 46% from the field and 50% from on 3-pointers.
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