NBA insider reckons Luka Doncic will take Boston fans slander for Kyrie Irving "personally"
Kyrie Irving's return to Boston for an NBA Finals series is expected to be hostile. There's no love lost between the player and the Celtics' faithful over the turbulent end to their partnership in 2019.
Several controversial incidents have followed since, including Irving stomping on the Celtics logo midcourt and flipping the middle finger to the fans after explicit chants, which have always been a talking point in Irving's TD Garden appearances as an opponent. The Celtics fans have had the last laugh after Irving dropped seven consecutive games against the team.
However, NBA and Mavericks insider Tim McMahon believes Irving will have co-star Luka Doncic's backing this time, which may not bode well for Boston.
"Boston fans are going to give Kyrie hell, and Luka is going to take it personally," McMahon said on "The Hoop Collective" podcast.
"I'm just here to tell you, you can ask some gentleman who was sitting courtside today, you don't want to be the fan that says something that Luka takes personally because he's searching for that. He uses it as fodder."
Luka Doncic has been at his best when he's engaged in trash-talking with the crowd, and he's repeatedly said that in his post-game press conferences. That was well documented during these playoffs as Doncic got into it with Clippers, Thunder and Timberwolves courtside hecklers in away games.
Kyrie Irving shares thoughts on facing Celtics
Kyrie Irving has tremendous respect for the Boston Celtics and their current core ahead of the 2024 NBA Finals matchup. Irving lauded what's to come and deemed it a "chess" match, which he's keenly looking forward to.
"There's gonna be some high level players going at each other," Irving said on a SportsCenter appearance after Mavericks' Game 5 win over T'Wolves. "Grateful to be able to go against a great coach, great players in Boston. It's gonna be a chess match, and I am looking forward to it."
Irving played for two seasons with the Celtics between 2017 and 2019. He couldn't impact the team's postseason runs by much after dealing with an injury in 2018 conference finals run and lack of form the following season. Kyrie Irving publicly committed to staying in Boston with an upcoming free agency looming over his head in 2019.
However, he ultimately changed his decision and joined Kevin Durant in Brooklyn instead. The beef has continued since, seemingly only from the Celtics fans' end.