"I just want to go in there with a poise and a composure and not pay attention to any of the extra noise."
Those are the words Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving said on April 15, a mere two days before he was flipping off the crowd at TD Garden and shouting vulgarities at fans amid a hectic and entertaining Game 1 against the Boston Celtics.
Irving insisted he wanted to move into a "new paradigm," but he was quickly engulfed in the dramatics and once again starred as the villain on a national stage.
Whether you think Irving flipping the bird or sharing a NSFW message to a Celtics fan is wrong, well, that's up to you. But there's no debating that Irving's antics Sunday -- yes, it came after boos from an opposing crowd in a playoff game -- are incredibly ironic.
"I don't have time, the focus to pay attention to all that going on with all the narratives that surrounded me in Boston," Irving, again, said on April 15.
He found the time to care within the next 48 hours.
... And then completely flipped his opinion.
"It's the same energy they have for me, and I'm gonna have the same energy for them," Irving said following Boston's 115-114 victory after Jayson Tatum's buzzer-beater. " ... When people start yelling (expletive) and (expletive) and (expletive) and all this stuff, there's only so much you can take as a competitor.
Irving added: "We're the ones who are expected to be docile and be humble and take a humble approach. Nah, (expletive) that. It's the playoffs. It is what it is."
So, to recap, Irving essentially went from wanting to move on Friday to then saying "(expletive) that" about moving on.
Fortunately for Irving, upon walking off the floor with a 1-0 series deficit in the best-of-seven matchup, he has another two days to think about how those at TD Garden will greet him Wednesday for Game 2.
