There’s certainly no love lost between Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics faithful, one of the most intense crowds you’ll find across the association.
Irving’s history with and without the Celtics is a dramatic saga, ranging from a forced trade to the team, underachieving while wearing green and white, then a promise to re-sign followed by a quick departure through free agency to the Brooklyn Nets.
Known for their relentless spite and ability to hold onto a grudge the same way Jrue Holiday can hold onto his defensive assignment, Celtics fans have been going at Irving since he left. At best, they’ve smattered the guard with boos. At worst, well, it certainly hasn’t been pretty.
Now, as he returns to TD Garden with the stakes at an all-time high, Irving expects the crowd to be louder than ever, chanting his name with unadulterated venom, but doesn’t expect it to faze him once he’s on the court.
“I’ve experienced Boston twofold. … You just gotta breathe through it,” Irving told reporters at the NBA Finals media day on Wednesday. “You have to breathe and realize that this is now as hostile as you think it is. Don’t overthink it, work through that and understand that some of that is anxiety, some of that is nervousness, and it can all be turned into a strength.
“There’s no fear out here. It’s basketball.”
No fear. That’s the message that Irving and the Mavericks are trying to impart heading into many of the players’ first-ever shot at a title.
Regardless of the animosity that comes with playing in front of some of the most passionate fans in the league, this is a stage that they’ve all been working toward, and no amount of crowd noise should get in the way of their success. At least they hope.
“The fans are gonna say what they’re gonna say,” Irving added. “I appreciate them and the relationship they have with the game, but it’s about the players, at the end of the day.”
Mavericks co-superstar Luka Doncic echoed that sentiment, acknowledging that it is a loud crowd but that unity in the locker room and on the court comes before all else.
Doncic is certainly no stranger to adversity from fans, as the Western Conference Finals MVP backed up his trash talk by scoring 36 points in the closeout Game 5 and chirping a fan by shouting, “Who’s crying (expletive)?”
Moreover, asked about what the most hostile environment he’s played in has been, he mentioned a game he played in the Euroleague against Greek side Panathinaikos rather than anything on this side of the pond.
“The crowd went crazy, they started winning 20-0. So, imagine that,” Doncic said.
Porzingis also looking for revenge
Revenge is hardly a one-way street in these Finals.
Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis is set to return from a calf strain that has kept him out since Game 4 of the opening-round series against the Miami Heat. He made it clear on Wednesday that he will play in the opener, his first-ever game in the NBA Finals.
He was dealt to the Mavericks ahead of the 2019 trade deadline while still recovering from an ACL injury. Once he suited up for Dallas, though, the pairing between him and co-star Doncic wasn’t made in heaven. The two weren’t able to co-exist on the floor, particularly under former head coach Rick Carlisle, as Porzingis was unhappy being forced to the perimeter on most actions and Doncic wasn’t able to do much when the big man got the ball in the post.
“It just wasn’t perfect for us playing together, and it didn’t work out. That’s it,” Porzingis said on Wednesday. “There’s no ill will I don’t think from their side. For sure there is none from my side. I don’t think there should be.”
“I don’t really know why it didn’t work out,” Doncic added. “We were still both young. We tried to make it work but it didn’t, we’ve moved on.”
Current Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd also coached the Latvian big in the first half of the 2021-22 season before he was traded to the Wizards. He liked the centre’s contributions and thought the pairing between the two European stars was going well, but acknowledged that if the results aren’t there, then splitting them up is just how the business of basketball tends to work out.
He was also complimentary of Porzingis’ ability to adapt to a new role on both offence and defence now that he’s with the Celtics, saying that he “doesn’t complain” and “helps the team win.”
And though there may be some awkwardness between Porzingis and Doncic, the Celtics centre spoke positively of Doncic’s abilities ahead of their winner-take-all series.
“He’s one of the best players in the league, in the world,” Porzingis said. “Playing with him for a couple of years, just know him, knowing the type of person he is, type of player he is … . We have a big challenge ahead of us competing against him.”
Boston’s ‘Jays’ under the microscope
Through all the talk about splitting up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they’ve managed to make it to the NBA Finals for the second time in their Celtics tenure.
Perhaps one of the most poked-at duos in the NBA today, maybe unfairly, Boston’s “Jays” have fought through it all, finding ways to shut out and shut up the discourse en route to the Finals, but made it clear that the amount of coverage they get still affects them.
“It’s fair to say it affects you, being embraced versus being scrutinized,” Brown said on Wednesday, referencing an African proverb. “One of my favourite quotes is: ‘The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.’
“You get to a point where you get scrutinized enough for a large part of your career and it becomes normal. It just rolls off you.”
Since joining forces in the 2017-18 season, the duo has made the Eastern Conference Finals five times and the Finals twice (including this season), but has yet to hoist the Larry O’Brien. With that lack of hardware, particularly playing for one of the most storied franchises in the sport, they’ve come under fire for not being able to finally put it all together.
Tatum struggled in the Finals against the Golden State Warriors in 2022, averaging 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting a rough 36.7 per cent from the field and turning it over 3.8 times per game.
Brown, meanwhile, was under the microscope in the conference finals loss to Miami last season as he averaged 19.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 41.8 per cent from the field and 16.3 per cent from deep.
They’ve both tried to put it past them, as they averaged a combined 60.1 points per game in their sweep of the Indiana Pacers last round, but it’s often that the negativity shines through despite their accomplishments.
“They have to overanalyze every little thing, have something to talk about,” Tatum said, when asked about being one of the most scrutinized players in the league. “Did it get old? Yeah. But it’s the Finals. They wouldn’t talk about me if I wasn’t good.
“Try to take some positives out of it and change the channel.”
Fast Breaks
• Irving was asked about LeBron James’ now-viral video saying how much he misses playing with him and how he reacted to that sort of praise coming from his former teammate.
“Obviously, I was at a different age, different place in my life. So was he,” Irving said, reminiscing on his days as a Cleveland Cavalier. “I think we’ve both been able to mature and really appreciate what we got a chance to accomplish. I think there were some things that got in the way of our relationship when I was a little bit younger.
“Shoutout to Bron for all that. Knows how to stir up a media storm, get everybody in here talking about us, but, yeah, looking forward to the future.”
• Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla isn’t too worried about the bright lights that come with the NBA Finals. The first-time Finals-bound coach preached the importance of being detail-oriented and not getting caught up in the sweeping nature of the moment.
“Unless they change the lightbulbs in the arena, they won’t be any brighter than they were in the last series,” he said.
• How does Jrue Holiday intend to shut down the dynamic, relentless pairing of Doncic and Irving?
“Pray.”
Good luck with that.