Now with Celtics and outta LeBron’s shadows is Kyrie
Kyrie Irving is coming home to where his NBA journey began six years ago.
There will be familiar faces and new sounds.
Traded to Boston this summer after he demanded the Cavaliers deal him so he could escape LeBron James’ shadow, Irving will make his regular-season debut with the Celtics on Tuesday night against his former team—and fans who loved him but may no longer be as adoring.
When Irving takes the floor in Quicken Loans Arena, the AllStar point guard will likely get the kind of reception he was accustomed to when he visited Boston or Golden State or Detroit while playing for Cleveland.
However, following a turbu- lent summer—including his recent slap at Cleveland’s athletic appetite—he’ll be greeted with boos, taunts, heckles and other unpleasant vulgarities. There will be some cheers, but they might be hard to hear.
Cleveland has some sports anger issues these days. After the Indians were knocked out of the playoffs much earlier than expected, and with the Browns a winless train wreck, Cavaliers fans need to blow off some steam.
It will be directed at Irving, who downplayed his visit.
“It’s just hoops man,” he said. “I’ve been in Game 7 in San Francisco (Oakland), playing in a high-intense environment. There’s no blocking out the noise or anything like that. It’s going to be there whether I like it or not. It’s going to be rowdy in there. It’s going to be a great game opener, like it was the last six years when I was there. It was the same getting used to the unbelievable Cavs fans that cheer on the Cavaliers and now I’m coming in as an opponent, trying to get a W.”
The Cavs have planned a video ‘thank you’ for Irving, who made the biggest shot in franchise his- tory—a step-back 3-pointer in the waning moments of Game 7 of the NBA Finals that lifted Cleveland to a title, the city’s first in 52 years.
The tribute is undoubtedly deserved, and it may have provided some closure for Irving and Cavs fans still smarting from him wanting to abandon a team that has been to three straight Finals and is penciled in for a fourth./