Kyrie Irving has not had the warmest of welcomes back to Boston in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Irving felt the heat from Celtics fans during Game 3 of Boston’s series against the New York Nets and received boos before the warmups of Game 4.
Boos are all well and good, but on Sunday a fan cross the line after chucking a water bottle at Irving and his Nets teammates on their way back to the locker room following a 141-126 New York final. Irving and his teammates were not pleased at all with the fan and stopped to argue with the Celtics supporter before leaving the court.
Here’s how the incident went down postgame.
A fan threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving as he and his teammates were exiting the game. They were not thrilled about it.
📽️: @YESNetwork #NBAPlayoffs #NBATwitter #TheJump pic.twitter.com/UTk27a43kB
— The Jump on ESPN (@NBATheJump) May 31, 2021
That is clearly a water bottle being thrown, which nearly hit Irving on his way off the court. It was reported after the game that the Celtics fan in question was arrested and escorted out of TD Garden by police in handcuffs.
The fan in Boston who threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving after the final buzzer is apparently being arrested, according to video we're getting from the arena. He was just led out of the seating bowl, and appeared to have his hands behind his back with handcuffs on.
— Seth Rothman (@SethDRothman) May 31, 2021
After the game, Kevin Durant had some… choice words for the unruly fans.
Kevin Durant to unruly fans: "Grow the fuck up and enjoy the game."
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) May 31, 2021
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen fans toss things at players this week, as a Sixers fan was ejected from the Wells Fargo Center after dumping popcorn on Russell Westbrook during Game 2 of the series.
The Nets win on Sunday now pushes the Celtics to the brink, as New York leads Boston in the series 3-1.
