Getty Kyrie Irving loses control of the ball as he is fouled by Reggie Jackson during the Nets' game against the Clippers at Barclays Center on February 2.
Instagram comedian Maxisnicee rose to fame with his spot-on NBA player impersonations that took social media by storm. As is the case with most social media trends, one impersonation went too far and caught the attention of Brooklyn Nets starting point guard Kyrie Irving. In the video posted by Brandon Anderson, also known as BdotAdot5 the two impersonators are exaggerating how Irving and Nets forward Kevin Durant go through their pre-game routines. Anderson impersonates Durant as he replicates KD’s shooting form while Maxisnicee plays Kyrie and is seen burning sage in the background. Irving was not pleased with having his culture mocked by the impersonators and he let them know about it. In response, Maxisnicee challenged Irving to a boxing match to settle their differences.
Kyrie Calls Out Maxisnicee
“I respect the comedy but tell your ignorant counterpart @Maxisnicee do not disrespect my ancestors or my indigenous culture with his gestures,” Irving wrote under BdotAdot5’s Instagram post via Bro Bible It’s sacred to us natives to burn sage and it’s a remembrance of the people who died to preserve our customs.”
Instead of just apologizing to Kyrie for disrespecting his culture the Instagram comedian fired back with another Instagram post challenging Irving to a $100k boxing match. “#sorryKyrie but if Kyrie wanna do it we can do it,” Maxisnicee wrote in the post that is now deleted. “Kyrie vs Max boxing match 100 bandz.”
Saging Is a Cultural Practice for Kyrie
If you remember, during Kyrie’s return to TD Garden during the pre-season, Kyrie was seen burning sage on the court before tip-off. Many people speculated that this was a shot at his former team, the Boston Celtics as his exit wasn’t really on his terms. Irving later clarified the gesture and assured reporters that it was a regular occurrence. “Being able to sage, just cleanse the energy, make sure that we’re all balanced,” Irving told reporters over Zoom via ESPN. “But, literally, it’s more or less for us to stay connected and for us to feel great about going to work and feeling safe and provided for from our ancestors. I’m not going to bring too much of the spirituality into basketball, but yeah, it’s part of my native culture where I’m from.”
Many of Kyrie’s fans called out the impersonator on Twitter for doubling down on his disrespect of Irving. The Instagram Comedian explained why he responded the way he did. “I didn’t asked to fight. I asked for professional boxing match,” he said via his Twitter page. “And I felt like that comment he made was personal. And made me look bad. Kyrie can call me, and we can talk it out like men and he educate me more on the history of his ancestors.”
Situations like these are likely what made Irving not want to talk to the media at the beginning of training camp. NBA players are already dealing with a condensed schedule in a shortened season so to have to deal with disrespect from fans that talk crazy behind a keyboard makes matters even worse. It’s not likely that Irving gives any more energy to this situation, but if he does, apologizing to Kyrie for disrespecting his culture seems to be the best option seems for Maxisnicee.
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