NBA star Kyrie Irving hopes there's no 'racism' from Boston fans as Nets take on Celtics



After making headlines a week ago for saying "basketball is just not the most important thing to me right now" — the Israel-Hamas fighting was taking precedence — Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is commanding attention again after saying Tuesday he hopes there won't be any "racism" from Boston fans as his squad battles the Celtics on Friday.

The Nets lead the NBA playoff series 2-0, with Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday in Boston.

What did Irving say?

"It's not my first time being an opponent in Boston," Irving — who played for the Celtics in 2017 and 2018 — told reporters. "I'm just looking forward to competing with my teammates, and you know, hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball. You know, there's no belligerence or any racism going on, subtle racism, and people yelling [expletive beeped out] from the crowd."

He added, "But even if it is, it's part of the nature of the game, and [we're] just gonna focus on what we can control."

A reporter asked Irving if he had experienced any of his aforementioned issues in Boston before.

Irving replied, "I'm not the only one that could attest to this, but it's just, you know." Irving then paused and laughed before saying, "It is what it is."

🔊”Hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball.”Kyrie Irving stoked the fire ahead of his return to Boston o… https://t.co/5cgIxT4lj9

— Boston Globe Sports (@BGlobeSports) 1622038422.0

Anything else?

Amid the Israel-Hamas fighting earlier this month, a somber Irving told reporters near the end of the season, "I'm not gonna to lie to you guys, a lot of stuff is going on in this world, and basketball is just not the most important thing to me right now. There's a lot of stuff going on overseas. All my people are still in bondage across the world, and there's a lot of dehumanization going on."

He added, "I apologize if I'm not gonna be focused on y'all's questions ... It's just too much going on in the world for me to just be talking about basketball. I gotta focus on this s**t 24/7 most of the time, but it's just too much going on in this world not to address ... It's sad to see this s**t going on. And it's not just in Palestine, it's not just in Israel. It's all over the world, man, and I feel it. I'm very compassionate toward all races, all cultures, and to see a lot of different people being discriminated ... against based on their religion, color of their skin, what they believe in. It's just sad."

Content warning: Language:

Kyrie Irving speaks out against the injustice in Palestine youtu.be

Oh, and as for the Celtics, the franchise is fresh off a bit of a controversy of its own when the team tweeted a photo of star player Kemba Walker wearing a jacket emblazoned with the famous "Don't Tread on Me" design from the Gadsden Flag.

Some on the left have claimed the historical symbol has taken on racist and white supremacist meanings, but Walker said after the dustup that he had no idea the image or motto meant anything in particular, saying "the colors looked good, it went with my sneakers, that's all."

Celtics delete tweet of star player wearing ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ Gadsden Flag clothing after online outrage



The official account for the Boston Celtics quickly deleted a tweet touting their star player after many online complained that he was wearing the famous "Don't Tread on Me" design of the Gadsden Flag.

Quick-thinking Twitter users posted screenshots of the deleted tweet of point guard Kemba Walker with the design on the back of his jacket.

Whats going on with Kemba Walker man 😂Celtics deleted that QUICK https://t.co/0UDuBlc5zV

— Unmasked_(G) (@UnmaskedRetreat) 1621384646.0

The historical Gadsden Flag has come to symbolize resistance to government authority and was taken up by the conservative "Tea Party" movement in opposition to the expansion of government under former President Barack Obama.

Some on the left have claimed that the historical symbol has taken on racist and white supremacist meaning in order to smear those wearing the design.

"If you're from the south especially you probably know about the don'ttreadonme flag. How in the hell does that flag make it on the back of Kemba Walker?" replied one critic on Twitter.

"The boston celtics posting a pic of kemba walker in a neo nazi jacket is so aggressively on-brand for that city," read another tweet.

"Kemba walker came to the game dressed in the racist snake flag. Somebody flagrant foul him real quick," replied another critic.

'It went with my sneakers'

Walker said in his post-game interview that he didn't have any special message behind wearing the symbol.

"Was there any message? No," said Walker. "I-I'm kinda confused about the question."

"People just noted it on social media," the reporter replied, "they just thought it was a cool jacket, I didn't know, the 'Don't Tread on Me' thing on the back, I didn't know if there was anything to it, or just a fashion statement?"

"I have no idea. The colors looked good, it went with my sneakers, that's all," Walker said.

The controversy was drowned out by Walker's standout performance in the match against the Washington Wizards that helped propel the Celtics into the NBA playoffs.

Here's the post-game interview with Walker:

Kemba Walker Postgame Interview | Celtics vs Wizardswww.youtube.com