Boo.
Heckle.
Let the visiting team know they are unwelcome in the venue.
But do it without calling players vulgar names.
It’s pretty simple.
I get the emotion, the passion. An arena with 18,000 people invested in a close game in the final minutes is an intense and special environment.
That brings us to Sunday’s Brooklyn-Boston NBA playoff game, a great contest won by the Celtics on Jayson Tatum’s driving layup as time expired. It's a game that will be known for its exciting on-court action, and interaction between Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving and Boston fans.
Celtics fans despise Irving, who left the team during free agency in 2019 just months after telling fans he planned on returning to the Celtics “if you guys will have me back.” When Irving returned to Boston last season, he walked around the court burning sage to "cleanse the energy." You can imagine how that went over in Boston.
Irving, who had a tremendous game with 39 points, will be fined for giving Celtics fans two middle fingers behind his head just before a jump ball during Sunday’s game, and he had vulgar words for a fan after he exited the court and walked toward Brooklyn’s locker room after the game.
The postgame incident, which was first posted on TikTok, happened in an unusual environment. At Boston’s arena, the visiting team leaves the court through a tunnel and as they walk to the locker room, fans are nearby. There aren’t many arena in the league where once a player walks through the tunnel there is fan access. The Celtics should have some barrier – even a curtain – between fans and players’ path to the locker room.
He was fined earlier this season for directing obscene language at fans during a game in Cleveland, and this next fine could approach $40,000-$50,000.
Irving is in the wrong. The league doesn’t want its players using obscene language and gestures toward fans.
After the game, Irving explained. “When people start yelling (expletive) and (expletive) and (expletive) you and all this stuff, there's (only) so much you can take as a competitor,” he said. “We're the ones expected to be docile and be humble and take a humble approach. Nah, (expletive) that, it's the playoffs. This is what it is. I know what to expect in here and it's the same energy I'm giving back to them.”
It hasn’t been easy to be on Irving’s side this season, with his decision to remain unvaccinated and miss nearly half of Brooklyn’s home games because of New York City’s vaccine mandate. And I’m not exactly on his side here. Each time he gives that “same energy” back to opposing fans, he will be fined. When a fan tells him, “You suck,” Irving doesn’t need to respond with a more profane comment.
But here’s where I am on Irving’s side: he doesn’t deserve vulgar language directed at him.
At each seat near courtside or near the players' tunnel at NBA arenas, there is a conduct advisory card letting fans know they must abide by the league’s fan code of conduct, which prohibits abusive language directed at fans.
The wording on the advisory is a variation of this: “Fans who act inappropriately will not be tolerated and may be subject to ejection from the arena and/or revocation of their tickets. We encourage you to enjoy the game and to cheer for our players and teams in a respectful way.”
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Of course, we know that’s not always the case. Fans are warned and removed from arenas for their behavior toward players. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has addressed the issue, saying three years ago, "We have had lots of conversations directly with the (National Basketball) Players Association, (and) the players, because absolutely we want them to feel that they’re in a safe environment and we don’t want them to be distracted during the game or think that they have to take matters into their own hand."
If any Celtics fans were using derogatory language, they should have been given a warning and then possibly ejected. It’s on NBA and arena security to enforce the policy. It’s also on Irving to inform arena security so the proper authority can remedy the situation.
Irving doesn’t need to hear it, and he doesn’t need to respond.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Boston, and Irving and Celtics fans both need to be better.
Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kyrie Irving vs. Celtics fans: Finger of blame to both in NBA playoffs
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