Getty Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after he is called for a foul in the second quarter against the Boston Celtics during Game One of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
The Brooklyn Nets took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Boston Celtics after cruising to a 15-point victory over the Cs in Game 4. However, their win was quickly overshadowed by a Celtics fan’s decision to throw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving while the Nets star was leaving the court.
While the majority of media outlets chose to run with the story — understandably so — Celtics Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett couldn’t help but dwell on Irving’s actions just moments prior to the incident, when he was spotted stomping on the Celtics logo at center court at TD Garden.
The seven-time All-Star’s action led to Garnett taking to Instagram the following day to blow off some steam.
Garnett wasn’t alone in his critique of Irving’s actions. Garnett’s former teammate and one-time Celtics Champion, Glen “Big Baby” Davis, also weighed in on the matter — albeit with a far more threatening tone.
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Big Baby Davis & Kevin Durant Exchange Words Over KG’s Take
“Real bulls***,” Davis wrote on Instagram. “Like I said you step on lucky (Celtics logo) you step on everybody that played for that team. Keep the s*** basketball before somebody get hurt in real life.”
Davis’ comments caught the eye of Irving’s teammate Kevin Durant, who has never been one to shy away from sharing his feelings on social media.
(Warning: This social media post contains NSFW language):
It’s clear that Davis and Durant have opposing views on this subject. The latter notably told Celtics fans to “grow the f*** up and enjoy the game,” following the conclusion of Game 4.
“Have some respect for the game, have some respect for these human beings and have some respect for yourself,” he said. “Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players or spitting on players or tossing popcorn. Grow the f*** up and enjoy the game. It’s bigger than you.”
Celtics Players Chime in on Kyrie-Fan Incident
While the actions of the fan that tossed the bottle at Irving were unacceptable, Celtics players such as Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart made it a point to note that one fans’ actions don’t reflect that of an entire fanbase’s.
“I just heard about that before I sat down. I mean, 18,000 people in the building. I guess, in any arena, there are a few bad seeds,” Tatum said, via MassLive. “I don’t want to overshadow the rest of the fans that came and supported us tonight. I was extremely happy to see that. But obviously, there’s no place in the NBA for throwing bottles, for throwing anything at a player. So, I’m sure that they’ll handle that right away. But there’s no place for that in the NBA.”
“Yeah I heard about it. From my understanding, the culprit was definitely taken care of very quickly, so we’re glad that it got taken care of,” Smart said of the fan, who will be arraigned on Tuesday on assault and battery with a dangerous weapon charge (per The Athletic). “Unfortunately, one bad seed doesn’t mean that the whole fruit is poisoned. Our fans have been great. We just had a knucklehead decide to do something knuckleheadish and it got taken care of. So we’re happy for that.”
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Celtics Champ Appears to Threaten Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant Claps Back