You knew the Celtics' old guard wasn't going to stay silent on this one.
First there was Kevin Garnett expressing his displeasure with Kyrie Irving choosing to stomp on the Celtics center-court logo at TD Garden following his team's Sunday night rout of the Celtics.
Now, there is Cedric Maxwell.
The longtime C's radio color commentator, who played with the team from 1977-1985, offered some pointed comments toward Irving during an appearance on NBC Sports Boston.
"What was the purpose of going out and stomping on the floor and walking off? There was no need for that," Maxwell said. "You’re a great player. You just played a great game. You walk into a building. You walk onto the middle of the floor. Everybody look at me. Let me put my shoes out here. Let me wipe this dog poop off my shoe right now in the middle of the floor and act like nothing happen. No, we’re mot letting that happen. That was some bull and I hated that. And Kyrie, you’re much better than that as a player, as an athlete. Look, take responsibility. I just want somebody to ask him, ‘Dude, what did you do that for? What was the reason behind it? Did you have something on your shoe? Did you walk out and step onto a dog poop or something? What happened there?’
"I wish this was during the ’80’s and during the time where a guy could really retaliate against Kyrie for doing something like that. I talked to Ricky Mahorn, a guy who played against the Celtics, and asked him about what happened. He said, ‘I couldn’t believe what Kyrie did by stepping on the floor like that.’ Remember, the game was over. Take your butt back to the locker room. That’s what you needed to do. I am not letting this go. You’re too good of a player. You played a great game. What is the purpose in what he did? Somebody please tell me, what was the purpose?"
Irving finished the Nets' Game 4 win with 39 points and 11 rebounds in 41 minutes.