What transpired Sunday night at TD Garden was a bad look for the Boston Celtics and NBA.
Following Game 4 of a first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, a fan threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving as he was leaving the tunnel. Irving, understandably, was upset after having suggested he could be faced with a hostile environment at TD Garden earlier this week.
Of course, how the guard left Boston, or whether or not he stomped on the Celtics logo at half court postgame, is no excuse to throw an object at his skull. It’s just the latest incident of a fan harassing a player during the playoffs, too.
Following the loss, Boston guard Marcus Smart discussed what happened, defending Celtics fans as a whole while condemning the unruly spectator.
Jayson Tatum, who has a great relationship with Irving, had a similar response to Smart’s — right down to the seed analogy.
“I mean, 18,000 people in a building. I guess in any arena there are a few bad seeds,” Tatum said after the game. “I don’t want that 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 NBA for throwing bottles or throwing anything at a player. So I’m sure that they’ll handle that right away.”
According to a statement from TD Garden, the fan who threw the bottle has been arrested and banned for life.
