Ben Maller: “Kyrie Irving used a lot of words… We can sum all of this up in one sentence – Boston fans hurt Kyrie’s feelings, PERIOD. This is a massive ‘W’ for the heckling fan. This is a great tribute to all fans everywhere, you still have it and you can still rattle certain players that are very delicate like Kyrie… The fact that Irving whined about it after the game is a feather in the cap of the fan. What is the first rule when you’re dealing with the critic or the heckler? You don’t feed the monsters because if you feed the monster you just make more monsters. This is empowering to the heckler and I love it. I’ve supported the heckler for a long time, and you now know this is a legitimate inconvenience to Kyrie Irving. Kyrie loves this and he relishes it, being the scoundrel of the NBA… Is it true that Kyrie Irving is the ultimate phony tough guy in the modern NBA? I would say correctomundo. Kyrie is essentially calling the Boston fans cowards because they won’t fight him, knowing the fan would be taken off in handcuffs if they came onto the court and tried to. That makes you a fake tough guy. Kyrie loves to float on the lazy river of victimhood. ‘WOE IS ME! THE FANS ARE HECKLING!’ Like Kyrie is the first guy to be heckled in NBA history. It’s a sob story and it’s a Greek tragedy, and the older generation rolls their eyes and laugh at Kyrie. They had plenty of complainers back in their day but Kyrie has the DNA of a choric complainer. He has no accountability and it’s always somebody else’s fault. For well over 100 years in American sports we have set this up where fans pay money, and there’s always a certain percentage there to raise a ruckus and heckle. It’s part of the real estate in any of these big sports. Kyrie Irving saying the NBA players are expected to be ‘docile’ and ‘humble’ – YES, THAT’S PART OF THE DEAL. They are there to watch YOU, you aren’t there to watch them. Kyrie thinks he’s competing against a fan who has had 17 beers, 12 hot dogs, and a couple of plates of nachos. What a jabroni. Kyrie is making $35 million and the fan is paying hundreds, and they’re on an even playing field in the eyes of Kyrie.” (Full Video Above)
Listen to Ben Maller of Fox Sports Radio rip Kyrie Irving for his bizarre run-in with Boston fans during Game 1 of their first-round series vs. the Celtics, as Kyrie was seen flipping the fans off multiple times during the game, before telling one fan in the tunnel after the game to ‘s*** my ****, b****’
The former Celtics point guard has long been feuding with Boston fans ever since his exodus from the team was met with much vitriol, perhaps beginning in 2017/2018 during his first season with the team when the Celtics made a run all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals without his services.
Irving was fresh off winning the 2016 NBA Finals with the Cavaliers and hit perhaps the biggest shot in Finals history late in game 7 to finish off the 73-win Golden State team. The Celtics were supposed to contend for championships when Irving was traded to Boston, but it just always seemed like the team was much better when Irving wasn’t on the floor, especially considering Boston’s young core of guards including Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Terry Rozier seemed like they were being greatly held back with Irving around.
The beef came to a boil during the 2021 Playoffs when Irving warned Celtics fans of their 'racism', and then stomped on the Celtics leprechaun logo at half-court.
Check out the segment above as Maller details why the feud sums up Kyrie as one of the ‘most phony fake tough guys’ in the league, as a $35 million athlete is putting himself on the same playing field as paying fans who are not allowed to physically approach a provocative Irving trying to goad them.
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