Nets Guard Kyrie Irving has been getting a lot of attention from his comments about Boston on Tuesday night, noting that he hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with “subtle racism” from Boston fans when asked about his return.
Irving was already going to have a lot of attention on him for his first game at TD Garden in front of fans on Friday night since leaving the Celtics in free agency in 2019. The All-Star point guard is expected to be welcome back with a lot of boos and negative reactions from the Boston crowd. A fan base that still remembers how he changed his mind about re-signing with the franchise two summers ago, gave up on the team in the NBA playoffs vs the Bucks, and was believed to part of the locker room turmoil.
After his comments, people have come out and talked about racism while being in Boston. Celtics GM Danny Ainge and former Celtic Kendrick Perkins share how they didn’t see or hear about during their time in the area, but some players like Celtics guard Marcus Smart have shared about their encounters with racist fans in the area.
In the video, Celtics Beat along with Mark Murphy, discuss Boston’s history of racism, if it’s worse than other places in the NBA, why Kyrie Irving mentioned it, what they expect in Irving’s return.
