The Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets will play their preseason finale at an empty TD Garden on Friday thanks to the city's COVID-19 protocols.
And if you ask Paul Pierce, Kyrie Irving lucked out.
Celtics fans haven't exactly been kind to Irving since he left Boston in 2019 during free agency. And Pierce thinks they would have been particularly hostile toward the Nets guard had they been allowed to attend Friday's event.
"We hold grudges," Pierce said of Celtics fans on Friday's episode of "The Jump" on ESPN. "We definitely hold grudges. He would have got it (from fans). He would have got lit up if the fans were out there."
And once fans are allowed to return, Pierce knows exactly what will happen whenever Irving comes back to Boston.
"This is going to continue every year until his career is over every time he comes to the Garden if there's fans in there," he said.
Considering the ongoing pandemic, it probably will be a while until Irving has to face fans in the stands. But that day will come eventually, and when it does, fans certainly will be ready.
