NBA Finals: How Kyrie Irving became the most hated man in Boston Celtics?

The moment is here, the stage is set as Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks are going to lock horns in the 2024 NBA Finals. 

The finals are touted to be one of the most anticipated and exciting matchup since the Steph Curry led Golden State Warriors and the LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers finals era. There is definitely a lot of focus on young superstars in Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic facing off against one another to bring their respective franchises the Championship Glory.  

However, one of the biggest talking points is Kyrie Irving returning to face his former team and a city in which there is a lot of bad blood and he is one of the most hated players Ahead of a matchup for generations, let's look at the bad bloos between Kyrie Irving and Boston Celtics.  

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Why Kyrie Irving is hated by Boston Celtics?

Kyrie Irving was acquired by Boston Celtics on his existing deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers and he arrived at the Garden to be their next generational superstar and the face of the Celtics to take them to the promised land. 

However, his two years with Boston were filled with injuries and frustrations as it never really clicked. Kyrie Irving's was set to be a Free Agent in Free Agency 2019 and he promised the TD Garden faithful that he plans on resigning in free agency. 

But that promise was broken when Kyrie Irving stunned everyone and signed with the Brooklyn Nets after a tumultuous season with the Celtics. There was no turning back for the Celtics fans as Kyrie Irving became the public enemy number 1 in Boston. 

Things escalated when Kyrie Irving returned to face the Boston Celtics with Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden and burned a sage saying he wanted to ‘cleanse the energy’. While burning sage is a tradition in indegineous culture, the Celtics fans didn't take too kindly with the action. 

To make it even worse, Kyrie Irving also stomped on the Boston Celtics logo and during a playoffs game when Boston Celtics started the Kyrie Suck chants, ‘Hela’ flipped off the fans at TD Arena.

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A New Chapter with the Mavericks awaits

After a tumultuous stint at Brooklyn Nets as well, Kyrie moved to Dallas Mavericks and seemed to have found peace with the franchise and has emerged as one of the leaders in the team. 

Ahead of the game Kyrie admitted that he regrets flipping off the Boston faithful, “Last time in Boston, everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my s--- a little bit. That wasn't a great reflection of who I am and how I like to compete on a high level”.  

While Kyrie is cautious it is going to be a hostile environment for him Boston, he is looking forward to the clash.

With Game 1 of the hotly anticipated NBA Finals just hours away, Kyrie Irving returns to Boston Celtics as the leader and player the city wanted him to be.