Tonight the third game of the series is played between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics, the first in Boston and the first also in which the Celtics fans will be able to see Kyrie Irving live at the Garden since the point guard left for New York. Irving’s departure was not exactly friendly and this reunion, which between injuries and a pandemic had not yet occurred, was expected to be hot. After Irving’s words yesterday the fire is insured.
The player made a direct accusation of racism towards the whole city: “Boston is a racist city, everyone knows it”. A theme that has been floating over the capital of Massachusetts for decades, which has never been alien to the sports arena in the city and which has always accompanied Celtics fans. Some fans who are certainly not going to receive the point guard with more affection after his words. As official spokesman, Danny Ainge, president of operations of the franchise, has responded to his former player: “I think you have to take these things seriously. I’ve never heard anything like this from a player in the 26 years I’ve been in Boston. Kyrie never told me anything about it and I talked to him a bit. I do not know… As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care. We are dedicated to playing basketball. Players can say what they want. “
An answer that will undoubtedly please his fans, but that seems to downplay a topic that does. And not because only Irving says so. Hours after Ainge’s statements, Marcus Smart, who has worn the green shirt all his professional career, opposed his boss and sided with his former partner“I’ve heard a couple of them,” he commented on whether he had seen racist attitudes in the Garden bleachers. “It’s a bit sad and disgusting to have fans yelling racist insults at rival players and then expect us to come out and play for them”.
Smart already told a few months ago in an article in The Players Tribune his experiences with racism throughout his career, university and professional. Specific, recalled an anecdote that happened to him in the Garden parking lot, after a Celtics game, in which he warned a woman to be careful when crossing a red light with her young daughter. The woman, who the player remembers was white, turned her head and replied “Fuck you, you fucking n-word!!!!” (Fuck you, you fucking nigga !!!).
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