Revisiting Kyrie Irving-Celtics Beef Ahead Of NBA Finals

Kyrie Irving will step onto the floor at TD Garden on June 6 as a changed man… well, at least that’s what he’d like everyone to believe.

It’s safe to assume Boston Celtics fans won’t be buying it.

Irving has spent the last couple seasons (kind of) showing penitence for a rather disastrous stretch of his career. He’s convinced a good amount of people that he has grown since that one time he caused an uproar through spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories and — seemingly worse in the eyes of some national outlets — forcing his way out of multiple championship-caliber organizations.

*gasp*

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks have done wonders for the controversy-creating Irving, though. It took some time to gel, but they’ve grown together into a legitimate contender, becoming the last hurdle standing between the Celtics and Banner 18.

Irving’s story isn’t one of redemption, though, at least not in Boston. He is the villain, so in case you forgot, take this time to remind yourself of just how ugly his tenure with the C’s got, and all of the absurdities that came from it, ahead of the 2024 NBA Finals.

THE HONEYMOON PHASE

Irving was traded to Boston on Aug. 30, 2017, bringing an end to a rather short-lived saga that ended his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was time for something new, and that’s exactly what he was getting by joining a young, talented Celtics team.

Isaiah Thomas was shipped off to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of the deal, and despite the fact that fans could have revolted for that very reason, things started out pretty well. Boston was cruising through the Eastern Conference, holding the No. 2 seed heading into the All-Star break with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both taking leaps after Gordon Hayward went down with an injury in the season opener.

Irving eventually would hurt his knee, get surgery and miss the Celtics’ improbable run to Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, but things were looking up for the organization and its star player.

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THE UNNECESSARY LIE

It’s sort of ridiculous looking back, but Oct. 4, 2018 is a day that will live in infamy for the Celtics.

“I’ve shared it with some of my teammates as well as the organization as well as everyone else in Boston. If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here next year,” Irving announced at an event for season-ticket holders at TD Garden.

He lied.

It took less than one calendar year for Irving to ink a contract with the Brooklyn Nets, as frustrations with the younger talent (namely Terry Rozier) in Boston and his role on the team dominated the discussion around a sorely disappointing season.

Irving played a total of 136 games in Boston.

HE SAID, THEY SAID

It got ugly after Irving signed in Brooklyn. He’d return to TD Garden on numerous occasions as a division foe, burning sage around the parquet prior to his first game back.

Boston then went on the defense after he, somewhat inexplicably, brought up the city’s checkered past with racism being directed at visiting athletes.

“Hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball,” Irving said on May 26, 2021, the first time he returned with fans in the stands. “There’s no belligerence or racism going on, subtle racism, and people yelling (expletive) from the crowd.”

Celtics fans didn’t do themselves any favors, having multiple incidents with Irving. He was once the target of a water bottle that got tossed from the stands at TD Garden, shortly after someone caught video of him using an expletive in the direction of a fan.

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UN-LUCKY ACT

Irving got the upper hand on the Celtics a few times early in his career with the Nets, but there seemed to be a turning point during their playoff series in 2021.

Irving, with a series win all but wrapped up, marched out to mid-court and stomped on the Celtics’ logo. He wiped his foot away with disgust, sauntering off the court like someone who had done… something, we guess. It turned out to be the last positive moment he’d have in the building for a while.

The Celtics are 10-0 against Irving since that moment, and even ended his career with the Nets by destroying them at TD Garden in his final game before being traded to the Mavericks.

THE FINAL(?) CHAPTER

Irving’s status in Boston likely won’t ever change, but he’d fallen to the back of everyone’s mind in the year or so since being traded to Dallas. Green Teamers took an out-of-sight-out-of-mind approach to their hatred of the 32-year-old, with things really dying down over the course of the 2023-24 season.

He made just one regular season visit to TD Garden, dropped a meaningless 19 points in a blowout loss, and went on his way. The C’s had bigger things to worry about at that point.

June 6 represents the first page of what could be the final chapter in the saga, however. If Boston pulls it out, Irving’s tenure will be just a footnote in the rise of the Tatum/Brown. If Dallas can do the unthinkable, Irving’s status as a villain on Causeway Street will reach biblical proportions.

We just have to wait and see which reality comes true.