How do I detest thee, let me count the ways.
As my favorite personality on the Greg Hill Show, Jermaine Wiggins might say “don’t get it twisted.” Kyrie, nobody is upset that you left Boston. There are no scorned lovers that feel like they were left at the alter here. If there ever were years back, they were in the fanbase minority then and have long since seen the light. There is not one stitch of truth to that theme you have been falsely hanging onto and bloviating about at every opportunity to do so since. Nauseating as it is to hear and consider that you actually may believe it or think that we think you believe it, on both counts, like with most of what you say, it’s simply not true.
Nor is the earth flat for that matter. That nonsensical 21st century fake contrarian ‘view’ that fools like you once raised for the first time since being discredited in the 3rd Century BC, is a perfect example of the self-important, think I’m smarter than you, pretentious BS that’s followed you through every stop of your NBA career.
No sir. If you would really like to know the truth and based on every quote that I’ve ever heard you say or from every classless gesture on the basketball floor that I’ve seen you make, I suspect the answer to that would be no. Either way, I’m happy to offer you the straight truth and there won’t be any sweetener. Here it is; we just wish you never showed up in the first place. Moreover, the way you have handled yourself since you have left has done nothing to help your standing in the city you once so greatly under-delivered in.
In terms of reasons to dislike Kyrie Irving, there are probably too many to count but I’ll pick out some of the most tasteless lowlights for you to chew on. Surely an erudite thinking man like yourself would welcome some self-reflection. Did I mention the world’s not flat and that science is real? Moving on.
Before digging into Kyrie’s tales from the crypt, let it be known that many athletes have left this emotionally charged, passionate, sports-loving town under a myriad of circumstances. Some welcomed back with video tributes like the man you were traded for, the beloved Isaiah Thomas. Others who had to work a little harder to gain their rightful fan appreciation after leaving for a detested archrival, like Johnny Damon. Some are still working to restore their once-great standing, like Roger Clemens. Others will always be golden even when their end in Boston was bitter, like Cedric Maxwell.
Irving’s case is a fascinatingly annoying one. Unlike so many former Boston stars who moved on leaving with a bitter taste behind, like Roger Clemens, Johnny Damon, Jacoby Ellsbury, Bill Parcells or even the beloved Mo Vaughn or the classy Ray Allen, each knows exactly where they stand and why they stand or stood there. With Irving? It’s not even close. He just doesn’t seem to get why it is that he’s so despised. David Price had a better read on the fanbase at his lowest point and that’s no compliment. Worse, Irving keeps reopening the scab at every opportunity and points fingers to the city and the fanbase while doing it. Then he wonders why he’s booed. Talk about paper-thin skin and we haven’t even scratched the surface. Allow me to pick at that scab.
August 22, 2017 – The Trade.
Boston loved “IT.” Isaiah Thomas epitomized everything that every Celtics fan, Boston sports fan, sports fan in general or breathing human being with a functioning heart loved. He was undersized, undervalued before he got here and worked tirelessly to prove everybody wrong. And he did. He was gritty, fearless, electric to watch and fun. He poured everything he had onto that floor every night, was exceptionally talented and swam amongst sea monsters with great success despite his diminutive size. He inspired the team of underdogs around him and led them to the playoffs in each of his three seasons. Those 2015, 16’ and 17’ Celtics teams had a real 2022 St. Peter’s University Peacocks feel to them and who didn’t root for them?
When the trade happened it hurt. In fairness to then-VP of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge the trade made sense. Irving was a proven NBA star and champion. ‘IT’ was a star in Boston, finally getting noticed on the NBA stage amongst its stars. There’s a difference and Ainge had his mindset on adding superstar talent to his young, complementary and maturing roster. When he saw the opportunity he took it and we all took the medicine, understanding it didn’t taste good and might make us constipated but that it was probably better for us. It took only two years for the experiment to fail. As it began to fall apart in 2019 that expected constipation was released and it’s been nothing but diarrhea coming out of Irving’s mouth ever since.
Truth be told though it never felt right and Irving’s superstardom never filled ‘IT’s’ diminutive shoes.
I wrote about it back in 2019 when Irving, supposedly the Celtics leader did anything but.
Celtics fans were long since spent on Kyrie’s moping, short snarky answers to perfectly reasonable questions as well as his public finger-pointing at the young players like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as the team’s problem. The emerging youth was never the issue at all. Irving could have best found that failing team’s problems right in the mirror. You know, the one he still refuses to take a good look in.
The years to follow.
When people get older their bad habits don’t get better, they get worse, particularly when not addressed. Irving clearly hasn’t addressed his. What comes out of Irving’s mouth is less consistent than the 2019 Celtics he led that lost in five games in the second round of the playoffs. While here in 2019, here’s what Irving said in terms of experiencing racial bias in Boston – “I myself can only speak for playing here as an opponent, I’ve never heard anything like that,” Irving told reporters in March 2019, via MassLive. “I think coming to Boston has been an eye-opening experience for me, just getting an experience to know Boston. I haven’t really heard too much about stuff like that.”
Fast forward two years, having never played as an opponent in Boston since leaving, we got these remarks from that same man - “Hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball, you know there’s no belligerence or any racism going on, subtle racism, and people yelling s–t from the crowd,” Irving said following the Nets’ 130-108 blowout Game 2 victory before his long-expected return to Boston.
Not only did that comment come out of the pure blue based on his previous comments two years prior but he said it after having zero playing experience as an opponent in Boston between those two quotes. So what changed?
Worse, was Irving using the very serious topic of race in an attempt to stoke the flames for a basketball game in Boston? Or, did he use it as a prop to deflect attention off of himself and towards the city? Either way, it was a careless and dangerous sentiment; one that actually undermined the seriousness of the issue for those who truly experienced bias, unfairness and ugliness due to race. The atrocities that the great Bill Russell experienced in his own home in the 60’s as well as the wrongful indignation Dee Brown experienced in the 90’s by local police come to mind as prime and legitimate examples. The way Irving used race as a tool for his own agenda is gross.
Then there’s the behavior which resembles that of a petulant child. Wiping his feet on the Celtics logo at center court last year. Or today, flipping the bird to the crowd. This is the stuff of the worst kind of kid you play sports against or with as an adolescent. Yet it’s Irving who again finger points to the Celtics fans saying that “they need to get over it.” No Kyrie, it’s quite clear you do. I for one got over you when your true self started to show through in the winter of 2019 as documented above. I’m not alone either but you know that don’t you? As heard from all the boos.
Now maybe you’ll really understand why you get them.