Celtics fan throws water bottle at Nets G Kyrie Irving (Video)

05/30/2021

As NBA fans pile into arenas, clowns continue to step over the line with players, and this time, Kyrie Irving is the target.

The Brooklyn Nets put a beatdown on the Boston Celtics on Sunday night, but an ugly incident with Kyrie Irving is the headline. As Irving was leaving the court, a fan tossed a water bottle at him in the tunnel.

NBA fans are having a crazy week. Water bottle thrown at Kyrie. pic.twitter.com/iFfwnsq74A

— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) May 31, 2021

There’s no love lost between Irving and Celtics fans. He insinuated that Boston fans were racist earlier this week, leading to a discussion about race relations between fans and players in the city.

Kyrie Irving, in part, on the fan throwing a water bottle at him: "You're seeing a lot of old ways come up… just underlying racism and treating people like they're in a human zoo. Throwing stuff at people, saying things. There is a certain point where it gets to be too much."

— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) May 31, 2021

Irving’s comments came in the midst of a few ugly incidents involving fans. A Knicks fan was banned from Madison Square Garden for spitting on Trae Young. Another fan in Philadelphia poured popcorn on Russell Westbrook.

Packed-out arenas have been a blessing for the atmosphere of these playoff games, but there are still a select group of fans who take things over the line. The NBA has a problem that needs solving.

There’s no love lost here between Irving and Celtics fans. After he dropped 39 points, Kyrie stomped on the Boston logo at halfcourt. Perhaps that’s a bit childish, but it doesn’t excuse any fan for throwing something at a player.

Feeling is mutual I believe pic.twitter.com/T12XAtSngx

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) May 31, 2021

Kevin Durant spoke to the media in the postgame about the incident. His message was simple: “Grow up.”

“Fans got to grow up at some point, I know that being in the house for a year and a half with the pandemic got a lot of people stressed out, but when you come to these games, you have to realize these men are human,” Durant said per Malika Andrews of ESPN.

“We are not animals, we are not in the circus. You coming to the game is not all about you as a fan. So, have some respect for the game. Have some respect for the human beings and have some respect for yourself. Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players or spitting on players or tossing popcorn. So, grow the f*** up and enjoy the game. It’s bigger than you.”

UPDATE:

A fan in Boston has been arrested and banned for life from TD Garden for throwing a water bottle at Nets star Kyrie Irving in postgame tunnel tonight.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 31, 2021