
There's a lot more at stake for players to lose by reacting the way Irving did, than there is to gain. Fair or not, the players are held to a higher standard of decorum than the loser fans. The Ringer's Culture/NBA writer Wosney Lambre said it best: "I think it's a bad look for the players to be wilding on the fans like this. But does that mean players should respond the way Irving did? It's sad to see to hear about those types of stories even sadder to know that the nasty vitriol that Nurkic endured is happening at other NBA arenas, too. The NBA, sticking strictly to policy, still fined Nurkic. Nurkic's grandmother died of COVID-19 in 2020. Portland center Jusuf Nurkic confronted a fan who allegedly shouted, "your mom is trash" and that his "grandma's a b-h!" league sources told Yahoo Sports. We have seen several examples in the past couple of years where fans have taken their disdain for an opponent too far, and the cycle never stops. The same holds true for boorish behavior by fans. Only a fool would expect escalation leading to de-escalation in Game 2. As NBA coaches are quick to point out, it's a copy-cat league. This of course has the potential to make the knucklehead fan looking for 15 minutes of fame even more emboldened to verbally attack him knowing he'll likely respond. Just as surprising is the fact that Irving seems taken aback by the level of trash talk that has come his way in Boston, a city that has a well-earned reputation for being tough on opponents-especially those that left the city under less-than-ideal circumstances, which is indeed the case with Irving.
#Kyrie irving stts crack#
In January, the NBA along with the NBPA released the top jersey sales for the first half of the season, and Irving didn't even crack the top 15.)

Irving has been in the top 10 among NBA jersey sales every year since 2014, peaking at No. (It's particularly noticeable when it comes to jersey sales. Sunday's antics and comments were another reputation and credibility hit for Irving, who is already dealing with a noticeable dip in popularity. Those engagements included both verbal (Warning: strong language) and non-verbal exchanges that will prove costly in some form, for Irving. And more recently, Irving's very public exchanges-yes, plural not singular-with Celtics fans during Boston's Game 1 win over the Nets on Sunday.His absence was a factor in Brooklyn's struggles and played at least a small part in perennial All-Star James Harden demanding a trade.
#Kyrie irving stts professional#
Irving's refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which led to him missing games this season because of the then-New York City vaccination mandate for local professional athletes and performers.Demanding a trade from Cleveland in 2017 after coming up short in the NBA Finals to Golden State, a decision that reportedly caught LeBron James-someone Irving had said he was close to shortly before asking to be traded-off guard.But in a separate interview with UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, Irving said that he had done his own research and concluded there was no "real" picture of Earth.


So what should give him reason to pause next time? He may find out in tonight's Game 2 first-round playoff game against Boston's new sixth man, the fans, who clearly own some of Irving's focus. Will the fine be a deterrent and make Irving think twice before engaging fans who heckle him? I know what to expect here and it's the same energy I'm giving back to them." "We're the ones expected to be docile and be humble and take a humble approach. "I don't want to attack every fan-every Boston fan-but when people start yelling, 'p-y, b-h and f-k you' and all this stuff, there's (only) so much you can take as a competitor," Irving told reporters after the loss.

Knicks espn.It would be understandable to empathize with Irving's defense.
