The Boston Celtics recently faced the Brooklyn Nets for the first time since Kyrie Irving jumped ship, and their players been bombarded with a lot of questions about the point guard as the Celtics and Nets face off in consecutive games. That has not gone over well with Marcus Smart.
The Celtics guard criticized the media for questions about Irving after Friday’s game against the Nets, saying that it was “a slap to everybody on this team” to be forced to talk about a player who is no longer there.
Marcus Smart: “I’m really tired of hearing (questions) about Kyrie. Kyrie’s no longer with the Boston #Celtics. It’s a slap to everybody on this team to keep hearing Kyrie’s name. Yet everybody, including the Boston fans want to talk about Kyrie.”
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) November 29, 2019
Smart even includes Boston fans in his remarks, and he’s right that Irving is the main topic of conversation. Much of that is due to the circumstances that saw Irving leave. Irving told fans he was committed for the long haul, then alienated fans and teammates, and fleed to a division rival. That’s why the fan reaction was so hostile even though Irving didn’t even play in either game due to injury.
The good news for Smart is that this will probably be it for the Irving questions for a while. The two teams don’t face off again until March.
