Kyrie Irving Won’t Be the Only Hated Player in the 2024 NBA Finals

Getty Kyrie Irving likely won't be the only player in the 2024 NBA Finals hearing boos.

Boston Celtics fans will once again be licking their chops when Kyrie Irving returns to town. Even though it’s been five years since Irving last put on a Celtics uniform and left down in a bitter divorce from the team, Celtics fans still hold a grudge against the current Dallas Mavericks guard.

When Irving and the Mavs come to Boston on Thursday, June 6, for Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals, Celtics fans will be ready. They’ll have their “Kyrie sucks” chants going. They’ll likely boo him every time he touches the ball, as they’ve done whenever he’s returned to the city.

As much as Irving is not liked in Boston, he won’t be the only hated player in this series. Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis likely won’t be getting any “welcome home” cards when he returns to Dallas.

Kyrie Irving Is Not Well-Liked by Celtics Fans

Two years after telling Celtics season ticket holders he’d re-sign with the team when his contract was up, Irving bolted from Boston via free agency. His two seasons in Boston were ugly, and he left for the Brooklyn Nets with the Celtics getting nothing in return.

Celtics fans didn’t like his attitude when he was in Boston, and they’ve let him hear it each time he’s come back as an opponent. They’ve booed him each time he touched the ball. They’ve cursed at him, and they’ve clearly triggered him.

Things escalated after the Nets eliminated the Celtics in Boston during the 2021 playoffs. After Game 4, Irving stomped on Boston’s logo at midcourt, fueling the feud between Irving and the fans. During the 2022 playoffs, the Celtics swept the Nets in the opening round. Irving was fined $50,000 during the series for flipping off fans during the game.

“It’s not every fan,” he said after Game 1 of the 2022 playoffs. “I don’t want to attack every Boston fan, but when people start yelling (expletives) and all that, there is only so much you can take as a competitor. We’re the ones expected to be docile and humble and take a humble approach. Nah, that’s the playoffs. It is what it is. I know what to expect in here, and it’s the same energy I’m giving back.”

Porzingis Expected To Get Some Irving-Like Treatment in Dallas

While Irving will hear it from Boston fans, former Mavericks player Chandler Parsons said he expects the same to happen to Porzingis when he he returns to Dallas.

Porzingis missed the entire 2018-19 season with a torn ACL. During that season, the New York Knicks traded him to Dallas, and then he inked a long-term deal with the Mavs.

Porzingis played three injury-filled seasons with the Mavs. He was traded to the Washington Wizards during that third season. He never played more than 57 games in a season in Dallas. Porzingis clashed with Mavs star Luka Doncic.

Parsons said Mavs fans aren’t overly fond of Porzingis. Parsons said he doesn’t expect Porzingis to be welcomed with open arms when the Celtics head to Dallas for Game 3 of the series.

“It will be way more violent toward Kyrie Irving in Boston, no doubt, but don’t get it twisted, they do not like Porzingis in Dallas,” Parsons said during an episode of Run It Back. “Luka did not like playing with him. There is an actual beef there, where it’s going to be every time he touches the ball, he’s getting booed.

“Those fans are proudful. If you’re hurt or you’re not doing what you were doing the years before you got to the Mavs, they don’t like it.”