Kyrie Irving embarrassed the Celtics and literally stepped on their logo.
Time to give the man some daps!
When the final buzzer mercifully sounded Tuesday on the Celtics' lackluster season, members of the team rushed over to show Irving their love: Marcus Smart, Tristan Thompson, Semi Ojeleye, Grant Williams, Romeo Langford, Tacko Fall and Robert Williams handed out more hugs to Boston's top sports villain than points they scored in the series. Jayson Tatum, who averaged more than 30 points over the final three games, shared a long embrace with Kevin Durant. The young All-Star can exercise his player option in three years, by the way. Do you think that came up?
I understand it is outdated and stodgy to grouse about professional basketball players exchanging pleasantries with each other following a playoff series. It is not 1975: Players are connected through social media and move freely due to free agency. They now hold all of the cards, to quote Irving's emotional doppelgänger, David Price.
But it still stung to see seemingly everybody on the Celtics rush over to display their affection for a player who quit on his way out and has ripped Boston sports fans ever since. Apparently, they just don't care.
That should've been obvious over the weekend, when no active player spoke out after Irving stomped on Lucky at center court. Admittedly, defending the honor of painted mascots is juvenile, and the definition of a loser's lament. But the symbolism was clear. Irving was rubbing his success in the face of the franchise.
Too bad everybody wearing Celtics green apparently wanted to cheer him on.
If the choice is between Lucky or Kyrie, it appears Tatum and his cohorts would choose the latter, and that's bad news for the Celtics. It must be hard to attract free agents when the message emanating from the locker room is: "Hey, we don't really like it here, either."
That's probably an exaggeration. It's apparent Tatum possesses love for Celtics fans, who have done nothing but shower him with deserved adulation throughout his young career. Jaylen Brown nailed his response regarding Irving's remarks about racism in Boston, pointing out that playoff press conferences are probably not the best places to constructively solve systemic discrimination and inequality. As Marcus Smart reminded us, this group has made the Eastern Conference Finals three times in the last four years. They've experienced plenty of success here.
But clearly, they're not endeared to the city or organization in any way. After the game, Irving complimented his former running mates, in what amounted to a verbal pat on the head.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity that I had in Boston," he said. "I'm grateful for a lot of the support that I had post-leaving there. Obviously, it wasn't the easiest transition to deal with, there was a lot going on personally while I was there in Boston that people don't know about, so to see kind of the emotions that were lingering on from the past year-and-a-half between that, I'm just glad it's settled."
Please, spare us. Within five months, Irving went from "I'll be back if you'll have me" to "ask me July 1." He lied to Celtics fans and then proceeded to throw up bricks during the team's abbreviated playoff stint. That's why there was animus directed towards Irving last weekend, despite his largely successful efforts to shift the narrative.
Irving's ex-teammates allowed him to take control. The talent gap was too much on the court, but off the court, they could've offered more pushback.
Instead, they offered nothing but acquiescence and hugs. The Celtics just got stomped, and the only people who seem upset were watching from home.
