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Oh, those crazy Celtics fans.
In a live session on Instagram Monday, Kyrie Irving told Darryl “Truck” Bryant. the former Virginia star and Brooklyn native, how we wanted to play Kemba Walker, one on one.
“That’s my matchup, I want K-Walk,” Irving, who grew up in West Orange, N.J., said of Walker, the Bronx native.
“That’s my big bro. I want K-Walk. That’s my big bro. You know we got mutual respect, but I know everybody wants to see it out of New York, New Jersey. Every time we play against each other, it’s always a game. He gave us 40, I gave him 40, back-and-forth. That’s just part of where we grew up.”
Well, in some quarters, that sounded like a call to arms, New York (or Brooklyn) vs. Boston...
New York vs. Boston.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 11, 2020
We need this pic.twitter.com/1dVZBewtZF
Celtics fans saw it that way too and started talking trash about how Irving didn’t show —he was injured— the first game between the K-guards when the Celtics beat the Nets in Brooklyn behind a 39-point effort from Walker.
Celtics fans looking for @KyrieIrving at the TD garden when the @BrooklynNets came to town all season.... pic.twitter.com/yBqukJwloq
— Jessy ☘️ (@JessyLoo22) May 12, 2020
There wasn’t much trash talk about how Caris LeVert put up 51 points in an overtime win a few days before the shutdown or how the Nets won two of the three games between the clubs.
As Pooch and others (with a broader prism than New England provincials) pointed out, it wasn’t about New York vs. Boston at all. It was between New Jersey vs. New York!
Irving wants revenge for the losses he took against Walker — as a kid — and called The Bronx native to play him in a friendly one-on-one game. Sorry to disappoint you, Celtic fans.
Meanwhile, Brian Lewis listened to Jason Tatum being interviewed on “All the Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson and heard Tatum talk about Kyrie’s departure from Boston, the source of Celtics fans’ bitterness.
Jayson Tatum on All The Smoke, talking about Kyrie Irving leaving the #Celtics for the #Nets: “His decision to go to Brooklyn, obviously a lot of people were mad and things like that...But us as basketball players we understand once you get to a certain level...”
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) May 11, 2020
Tatum on Irving: “and a certain point in your career you’ve earned the right to make the decision on what makes you happy & what you want to do. So I was happy for him. He wanted to go back home and be closer to his family. I think everybody should have that opportunity.” #nets
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) May 11, 2020
Didn’t seem to bother him!
- Surprising reason Kyrie Irving wants Kemba Walker revenge - Zach Braziller - New York Post