WATCH: Kyrie receives deafening boos upon return to TD Garden for Finals originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON – Kyrie Irving is public enemy number one at TD Garden for the 2024 NBA Finals.
The former Celtic, now facing his former Dallas Mavericks teammates, received thunderous boos as he walked out onto the hardwood for the first game on Thursday night. The Garden crowd continued to boo Irving every time he touched the ball in the first quarter.
Irving played a two tumultuous seasons with Boston from 2017-19. The star point guard fell out of favor among C’s fans after promising to re-sign with the team when his contract expired, only to leave for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer.
Since then, Irving has been greeted with loud boos and expletive-laden chants every time he returns to TD Garden. Irving has responded for stomping on the C logo at half court during the 2021 playoffs and showing the middle finger to Boston fans (twice) in the 2022 Celtics-Nets postseason series.
Before Game 1, Irving minimized hostility that comes from playing at TD Garden.
“You just have to breathe through this. To all my young people who are dealing with some of the crowd reactions and what they are being told, you have to breathe and realize that this is not as hostile as you think. “No. overthink it,” he told reporters Wednesday.
“I’ve been able to overcome that and understand that some of it is anxiety, some of it is nervousness, and it can all be turned into a strength.”
Irving will make his fourth appearance in the NBA Finals. His previous three were with LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
