Kyrie's Homecoming

The Boston Celtics beat Kyrie Irving's newest team, the Brooklyn Nets 126-120 on Sunday, and Shank writes about the warm, loving Boston reception Kyrie got:

The Garden was not a stomping ground this time for the unfiltered Kyrie Irving

Given all the history and weirdness, it seemed appropriate that Kyrie Irving made his return to the parquet floor one day after Boston’s indoor mask mandate was lifted.

Kyrie got the Rick Pitino-Manny Machado-Ulf Samuelsson reception you’d expect, but he was not the story of this day. The story of this day was Jayson Tatum (54 points) and the Celtics prevailing down the stretch of a thrilling 126-120 victory over the hot-mess Brooklyn Nets.

We saw two engaged teams go back and forth for more than 46 minutes before Tatum and the Celtics dropped the hammer. Celtic fans got their last laugh, chanting “Kyrie sucks,” when Jaylen Brown went to the line with 31.3 seconds left and victory secure.

The Knucklehead Column

Here's Shank's Game 4 recap between the Celtics and Nets:

It just gets worse.

Kyrie Irving scored 39 against the Celtics in a 141-126, Game 4 drubbing Sunday night, then stomped on the Celtic midcourt logo before leaving. When Irving exited the floor with his teammates, a fan wearing a Kevin Garnett jersey fired a water bottle at Irving, narrowly missing his head. The fan was apprehended by Boston Police and led from the lower bowl in handcuffs.

“It’s unfortunate that sports has come to this crossroads, where you are seeing a lot of old ways come up,” said Irving. “It’s been that way in history, in terms of entertainment, performers in sports, for a long period of time. Underlying racism and just treating people like they’re in a human zoo. Throwing stuff at people, saying things. There’s a certain point where it just gets to be too much. I called it out. I wanted to keep it strictly basketball. But people just feel very entitled out here . . . we’re not at the theatre. We’re not throwing tomatoes and other random stuff at the people that are performing. It’s too much.”

DHL Dan CXXXVIII - Kyrie's Homecoming

Former Boston Celtic Kyrie Irving got a warm and loving reception on Friday night:

Boston fans didn’t cross the line with Kyrie Irving Friday night, and let’s keep it that way

Picked-up pieces while loving our return to sports played in front of full houses:

▪ Boston fans stood tall at the Garden Friday night. They booed Kyrie Irving every time he touched the basketball. They delivered harsh chants in Kyrie’s direction. But nothing went over the line. After the big Celtics win and Irving’s subpar game, even the complex and sometimes loathsome Kyrie said, “It’s basketball. I’ve been in a few environments in my life. If it’s nothing extra, I’m cool with it.’’

Good. Let’s have more of the same Sunday when the Garden is full for Game 4. Boo Irving because he lied to you about staying here and quit on your team. Just as you booed Roger Clemens when he came back here with the Yankees. Just as you would let Rick Pitino have it if he ever walked through that door on Causeway Street. But “nothing extra” please.

It almost makes you wonder - if Kyrie (and Marcus Smart, for that matter) really heard N-bomb(s) when it supposedly happened, why are we only hearing about it now?

Head Of The Class

Shank banged this one out a bit before the other Kyrie Irving column:

Right now, Kyrie Irving in a class by himself in being hated by Boston sports fans

There are two categories when we get into athletes who are hated by Boston sports fans.

Category No. 1 includes natural-born enemies of our teams. Guys such as Bill Laimbeer, Ulf Samuelsson, Manny Machado, Alex Rodriguez, LeBron James, and Peyton Manning. Easy targets, one and all.

The second group is the house of hombres who played or coached here in New England, eventually wore out their welcome, and left a trail of bad feelings when they moved to new destinations. This group would include Roger Clemens, Bill Parcells, Carl Crawford, David Price . . . and Kyrie Irving.

Kyrie, who spent two wild and unsatisfactory seasons in Boston, made the key plays in a fourth-quarter surge and scored 29 points in a 104-93 Game 1 Brooklyn playoff victory over the Celtics Saturday. Wearing green shoes, as if to taunt Boston again, Irving combined with superstar teammates Kevin Durant (32 points) and James Harden (21) to put the .500 Celtics into the fast lane for a quick exit from the 2021 NBA playoffs.

It's a good column in part because he lets Kyrie do the talking, which leads to interesting results.

Slowly Aged, Like A Fine Whine

It took Shank nearly two months to lay into (soon to be former) Celtic Kyrie Irving?

Back in April, Boston.com conducted a poll to determine the greatest sports villain in our town. Sixty-four nominees were offered in NCAA Tournament bracket fashion. More than 130,000 votes were cast and the winner/loser was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The Ginger Hammer won by more than 1,000 votes in each of six rounds, easily beating Alex Rodriguez in the final.

I demand a new vote.

I believe that at this hour, Kyrie Irving would be a runaway winner, defeating even the man who was so mean to those cheatin’ Patriots.

This is rich, coming from the most hated man in Boston sports media, isn't it?

Holding Out No Longer

The Boston Celtics lost last night, 116-91 in rather ugly fashion, with Kyrie Irving going 6 for 21 from the floor and the other players not doing too much better. I just finished listening to Felger & Mazzarotti (and Big Jim Murray was on it as well) absolutely savaging the Celtics, with Kyrie bearinge the overwhelming brunt of the blast for the first two hours. It's one of the times that a) I knew that Michael Felger would be in rare form and b) I fully agreed with nearly every word of it. It's one of the few times you actually look forward to that trademark Boston sports media negativity.

A curious natural omission, of course - the Dan Shaugnessy column eviscerating and Celtics. It's in his blood, perhaps more natural than breathing to him, and I was fully expecting to wake up this morning and see him in nuclear meltdown mode. There was nothing. until now:

Never saw poultry or brew in the lockerroom, but I will always think of these guys as the Chicken-And-Beer Celtics of 2018-2019.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) May 9, 2019

Reader poll - do we still get a stemwinder from Shank or did Felger already use up all the oxygen in the room on this one?

Exasperation

This one fits with the pattern established in other years. Shank's first column this season about the Boston Celtics comes after they lose a bunch of games and their star player complaining about damn near everything:

Kyrie Irving is as exasperating as he is talented

“He’s never coached any player like me.”

— Kyrie Irving on Brad Stevens

Out for a cold morning jog a couple of days ago, I came across two neighbors on their daily walk, and they insisted I take a pause from my hideous daily mile.

“Please, answer one question,’’ said one of the walkers. “What’s up with Kyrie?’’

You're asking a guy who barely watches the Celtics?

We were just seconds into a discussion about the mercurial Celtics guard when another hearty soul, the guy who delivers the morning Globe in our hood, wheeled to a sudden stop, rolled down his window, and said, “Dan, are we gonna trade Kyrie?’’

Wonder if that opinion changed after the Celtics smoked Golden State last night? His opinion probably changes like Shank's - on a near daily basis.