Nets’ Kyrie Irving Explains Purpose Behind Pregame Sage-Burning Ritual

By now, you’ve probably heard about Kyrie Irving’s pregame sage-burning ritual that took social media by storm Friday night.

But apparenly, there’s more to the story than initially meets the eye.

For those unaware, Irving was spotted burning sage while walking around the court at TD Garden ahead of the Brooklyn Nets’ big preseason finale victory over the Boston Celtics. It was Irving’s first game in Boston since he left C’s in 2019, too.

Irving explained the deeper meaning behind his pregame routine after the game.

“Honestly I did it before the first preseason game in Barclays (Center), so every game definitely cleansing the energy in here, make sure we feel good as a team,” Irving told reports, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Don’t want to disrespect any other team. Some people think I was doing some ritual stuff before the game, but no, that’s just sage from my native culture. Just making sure we cleanse the energy in here and we play well. And I want everybody to stay safe, not just my teammates.”

(Sage-burning typically is used to help cleanse an area of negative energies and promote health and healing.)

So, what do Kevin Durant and the rest of the Nets think?

“That’s his thing,” Durant told ESPN. “I mean, Kyrie probably sages his room before he plays 2K when he gets home. So, that’s just what he does. And I think that gives us good energy. He does it in the locker room. That’s his thing, and we respect him and we all respect his methods.”

Hey, whatever works.