Earlier this week, Kyrie Irving spoke about his return to Boston and what it will be like playing in front of Celtics fans in light of his history with the team. Over the years, Celtics fans have had a reputation of being a bit racist towards opposing players, and during a press conference, Irving spoke to that, noting that he hopes the fans keep it strictly about basketball and nothing else.
“I am just looking forward to competing with my teammates and hopefully, we can just keep it strictly basketball; there’s no belligerence or racism going on – subtle racism,” Irving said. “People yelling shit from the crowd, but even if it is, it’s part of the nature of the game and we’re just going to focus on what we can control.”
In light of these comments, Celtics star Marcus Smart was asked about the crowd in Boston and whether or not he has ever heard them be racist. According to reporter Keith Smith, Smart admitted to hearing racist comments from the fans in the past and that it’s truly unfortunate.
“Yeah, I’ve heard it. I’ve hard a couple of things. It’s hard to hear that and then have them support us as players. It’s kind of sad and sickening,” he said.
Just last year, Smart spoke about how he was called the n-word by a Celtics fan and how it was a traumatic experience considering these are the fans who are supposed to be supporting him. Needless to say, this is a bad reputation to have, and hopefully, the fans behave themselves and act respectfully come tomorrow night.
