Brooklyn Nets: Kyrie Irving had every right to step on Celtics logo
By Adam Weinrib
If youâre the type of Boston fan whoâs absolutely incensed by Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving giving the midcourt Celtics logo a special type of farewell on his victorious way out of town, then you probably were scrambling for a distraction from the action on-court.
Sorry for your loss. Everybody hurts.
To have pride in your team is one thing. To believe so strongly that your teamâs logo is a sacred parchment and cannot be tred uponâŠthatâs a special level of delusion, unfortunately pirated by an actual segment of sports media after Irving performed an âunspeakableâ act after his Game 4 triumph.
After 96 straight minutes of Irving, playing in Boston for the first time since he left for Brooklyn, having to sit through profane chants while ducking water bottles, he reacted subtly to silence the crowd in much the same way Trae Young did at MSG after Game 1.
Unlike Trae Youngâs shush, Irvingâs logo stomp has now indelibly been stamped upon him in Beantown, elevating him to the top of the pantheon of Boston villains, proving once and for all that the citizens of that city are stuck in the 1700s.
Itâs also the greatest thing heâs ever done.
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving was right to stomp on the Celtics logo.
Letâs briefly live in a world where itâs actually the height of offensiveness for Irving to give a logo a disrespectful stomp on his way off the court â while congratulating his teammates on a blowout win.
In this world, Irving shouldâve taken the abuse from the crowd lying down. He shouldâve leaned into the water bottle thrown at his head, seeing as heâd been a bad, bad boy during his time with the Celtics and deserved the punishment. After the victory, he shouldnât have shown his face to the Boston crowd, lest they be reminded theyâd just lost.
Snowflakes.
In reality, Boston fans are lucky that all Irving did was grind his heel into a logo on the parquet. Though you might not agree with the way the point guard deployed the information prior to Game 3, the cityâs history of racism is intermingled with its sports legacy. Countless visiting players have left town â even in recent years â swapping stories about the things theyâve heard in the Fenway Park bleachers. For decades, Bostonians have elevated the legacies of less-talented white athletes while often diminishing the contributions of minority stars.
As Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn once famously said about the way Boston remembered his teammate Bill Russell, the greatest winner in NBA history:
"âLook, all I know is, the guy won two NCAA championships, 50-some college games in a row, the [â56] Olympics, then he came to Boston and won 11 championships in 13 years, and they named a fââ tunnel after Ted Williams.â"
The Celtics logo is not only not sacred, but in fact represents a troubled history.
Of course, thereâs one final matter to be addressed here: why Boston thinks theyâve earned the right to taunt the Brooklyn Netsâ point guard.
Celtics fans believe Kyrie Irving âquitâ on them because they canât conceive of someone who doesnât want to live in Boston and doesnât want to win for the people of Boston. It doesnât compute. If theyâve made their entire personalities âBoston Sports,â then why canât every one of the cityâs athletes do the same?
Irvingâs behavior during his tenure with the Celtics certainly didnât live up to expectations, and Boston fans certainly have the right to dislike him without tossing bottles. Without knowing any inside information about the way he was treated and the way his mental health declined during his two years in the city, it became clear in an injury-ravaged tenure that Irving and Boston didnât mesh.
All of Celtics fansâ pain points here are also perception, though. In his two seasons with the team, Irving ranked as Bostonâs best player in terms of win shares both times (8.9 and 9.1). In his first year, the team navigated all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals without him. In his second season, the Câs stole Game 1 from the heavily-favored Milwaukee Bucks before losing the next four, an oft-used example of Irving âquittingâ on the team on his way out of town. Perhaps his team just didnât have the firepower to win four consecutive games in upset fashion?
Then, finally, there was the promise. In a season-ticket holder event ahead of his free agency, Irving supposedly agreed to come back to Boston for his next contract â but thatâsâŠnot actually what he said. The direct quote was, âIf you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here.â
After the way the city immediately turned on him when he departed for Brooklyn, itâs now clear Irving was right. For two years, the fans had faked it. They wouldnât âhave him backâ with genuine love and affection; therefore, he left for a better situation.
If you triumphed over the type of concentrated adversity that Irving had just experienced for 72 hours, as well as the several years prior, youâd show a bit of disrespect to your old employer on the way out, too.