DALLAS — Kyrie Irving finally ready to open.
He stopped in the hallway of the American Airlines Center on Friday night. The return to a hostile Boston is is about to happen on Monday after him Dallas Mavericks beat Celtics in game 4 of NBA Final. Just days earlier, he had teased that there were things no one knew about during his rocky two-year stint with the team that now stands between him and his second championship.
When I asked him if he would be willing to elaborate on what those things were, he agreed. In fact, it’s something he wishes he had done much sooner.
“I would love to write a letter if possible to not only the Boston fans but to the people in the organization, so they understand better,” Irving told FOX Sports.
Irving thinks of Boston fondly. Celtics fans considered him a traitor. He wants to bridge the disconnect.
Irving, who played for the Celtics from 2017-2019, has been the target of fan anger since he publicly announced he would re-sign with the team in October 2018, then eight months later, he left Brooklyn instead of.
But soon after making that commitment, he received a severe blow.
“A week later, my grandfather passed away,” Irving told FOX Sports. “It was one of the most difficult times in my life just because I didn’t know how to move forward, not just with my career in Boston but with my career in general.
“I have never lost someone in the middle of last season or the beginning of the season. It was my mother’s father, so it was very difficult for me emotionally. But it was difficult for me to find joy in the game again. more basketball.” .”
Irving felt lost that season. He retreated from his comrades. He didn’t know how to express his grief. His grandfather holds a special place in his heart and represents a connection to that side of his family, especially since his mother passed away when Irving was 4.
Kyrie Irving says he loves Boston, but Celtics fans see him as a traitor. He was ready to bridge the disconnect. “I would love to write a letter if possible to not only the Boston fans but also to the people in the organization, so they understand better.” (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
“He was a huge supporter,” Irving told FOX Sports. “He used to bring hundreds of people Portland [the closest NBA city to where his grandfather lived in Seattle] come see me. [He] really helped me get in touch with my roots, my mother’s homeland, and my tribe [the Standing Rock Sioux Nation in North Dakota]. So he was like a guiding light for me. And he is the pastor of a church, a large congregation, loved by the community. He also has the opposite skin tone to me, which is what’s great about our family dynamic.
“In my family there are so many different social classes, culturally, religiously, racially. So for me, growing up with him, it gave me a very different perspective on the world. And he allows me to ask questions and stay curious.” He will also always put me in my place if I don’t put God first. And he helped me see the big picture about life, about faith and making sure you help people.
Irving sank into depression.
In Irving’s first season with the Celtics, they got off to a 16-2 start before injuries forced him to miss an extended season and beyond. The next season, after his grandfather passed away, everything changed. His leadership skills were questioned. He is considered psychic.
At that time, he shined on the court, averaging 23.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5 rebounds. But behind the scenes, he kept to himself and a Celtics team that was expected to compete for a championship then fell in the second round of the playoffs.
“When I lost him as my guiding light in the physical world, basketball was the last thing on my mind,” Irving told FOX Sports. “And then in a historic place like Boston, it was hard to explain to people that I was facing that. It was hard to talk to my teammates about it. I didn’t know what to do. talk about it like that. So that’s what I went through.” actually mentioned.
“I don’t think a lot of people care about how I present as a person. Because here I am a key figure in the NBA. I was the number 1 choice. I was under a lot of pressure. I’m in Boston. I just committed to going back to them. And now, the only thing I’m really thinking about is being there for my family, which is why I can’t go back to Boston. fulfill some of those responsibilities because my family is hurting too. So I shouldered the responsibility of being a family man, moving back to New York.”
Irving said his grandfather’s death made him decide to leave Boston. “I couldn’t stay in Boston to carry out some of those responsibilities because my family was hurting too. So I took on the responsibility of being my family man, moving back to New York.” (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Irving said around that time, he was not only dealing with the loss of his grandfather, but also trying to find his way as a young father after his daughter was born in 2015. When things got worse clearly, he would renege on his commitment. back in Boston, he and Kevin Durant planning to join forces in Brooklyn. But then another wrinkle was added to an already emotionally challenging time: Durant suffered a devastating Achilles tear while playing for golden state during the 2019 NBA Finals, right before free agency.
Irving said that weighed heavily on him, too.
“I went up against one of my best friends who just tore his Achilles in the Finals and tried to be there for him as a human being,” Irving told FOX Sports. “I don’t know how many people are still committed to going somewhere after their friend or colleague tore his Achilles and you don’t know if they’re going to come back. So I feel even more called upon called there for him.”
Regardless, Celtics fans still feel left out. And since then, things have been hostile between the superstar and his former fan base.
When his Nets met the Celtics in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, Irving stomped on Boston’s logo at midcourt after their victory in Game 4. As he walked off the court, a fan grave then threw a water bottle at him, which he threw. said gives him a “traumatic reaction” whenever he returns to that environment, as he will on Monday.
The following season, when the two teams met again in the first round of the playoffs, he gave Celtics fans the middle finger twice in Game 1, once after hitting a 3-pointer and then once after hitting a 3-pointer. again with both hands as he fielded a ball in the fourth quarter. a quarter.
It’s no surprise that things were also tense in these Finals.
Kyrie Irving teases Celtics fans after Game 1: ‘I thought it would be noisier’
Before Game 1, fans stepped on a blow-up doll of Irving’s face outside the arena, as they chanted, “F— Kyrie.” In Games 1 and 2, the crowd would boo loudly and chant “Kyrie sucks” whenever he touched the ball. And when Irving said after Game 1, “I think it’s going to be a little louder here,” his words were displayed on the video board in Game 2 as fans screamed.
Meanwhile, it seems like Irving irritated Celtics fans by wearing it pants with a shamrock on the chair during NBA Finals Media Day. But when asked about it, he was really confused.
“Maybe Guillermo was the one who put it there,” Irving said, referring to Guillermo Rodriguez, a supporting character for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Celebrities conduct quirky interviews with players on Media Day. “I think someone mentioned me wearing a shamrock. I don’t know. Someone mentioned it and I said, ‘Okay?’ …Everyone is staring at my butt, I’m on a whole new level now.”
With the Mavericks facing a 3-1 series elimination, Irving is bracing himself for another harsh reception in Game 5 in Boston. He struggled there in the first two games of the series, averaging just 14 points on 35.2% shooting, before exploding for 35 points on 46.4% shooting in Game 3 in Dallas.
This time Irving will try to block out the noise.
“Just figuring out a way for us to bond more as a team and not just talk about me,” Irving told FOX Sports. “They’re going to chant. They’re going to do whatever they’re going to do. But my focus is always on playing the best basketball I can for my teammates.”
Irving understands he will face a hostile environment in Boston in Game 5. “They’re going to chant. They’re going to do whatever they’re going to do. But my focus is always on playing my best basketball.” that I can my teammates.” (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
As for Irving, it’s unfortunate that his tenure with the Celtics ended so bitterly, especially since he had so much affection for the city.
That’s where his father, Drederick, played basketball at Boston College. That’s where he attended skills camps. That’s where his parents met. That’s where he shined on the court, continuing to establish himself as one of the top guards in the game.
Irving regrets the way he handled things five years ago. He was overcome with emotion. He said he wasn’t mentally mature enough to compartmentalize things. He knew he had let everyone down.
But he also wants others to understand where he’s coming from.
So if he could go back in time, he would write a heartfelt explanation to a city and a team that embraced him with open arms before things got worse.
“Looking back, it was probably something I could have done,” Irving told FOX Sports. “Just say why I did what I did instead of waiting years to say it. But I need to learn the vocabulary.”
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the tournament for Sports Illustrated, the newspaper Los Angeles Times, Bay Area News Group and San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
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