Acts of poor behaviour by the returning fans continued as a fourth incident has been reported since the start of the playoffs. A Celtics fan was caught throwing a water bottle at Kyrie Irving just as he was making his way off the court following the game.
While the bottle appeared to miss the player, the intention of the fan was more than enough to issue a punishment. Check out the video right below:
According to a statement from the venue, the Celtics fan has been arrested for his actions, and has also been issued a lifetime ban.
“We will support and provide assistance to Boston Police as this incident is under review,” a TD Garden spokesperson said in a statement. “We have zero tolerance for violations of our guest code of conduct, and the guest is subject to a lifetime ban from TD Garden.”
Kyrie Irving has his share of history with the franchise after representing them for two campaigns. While he expressed his intention to stay for a longer duration, eventually an offer from the Nets changed his mind.
Ahead of his return to the TD Garden for Game 3 of the first round playoffs, Irving had shed details of the instances of racism in the city of Boston.
The point guard was showered with boos by the fans in Nets’ Game 3 loss against the Celtics. He came out strong in Game 4 and scored 39 points as the number two Eastern Conference seed placed a foot in the semifinals with a 126-141 win, taking their lead to 3-1.
Irving was also seen placing a foot deliberately on the iconic Celtics logo on the floor of the TD Garden.
People in the stands feel entitled, says Irving
After the bottle was thrown, Irving and his teammate Tyler Johnson proceeded to stop and look into the stands for the person responsible. While Irving spoke about the incident during the post-match video conference with reporters, he opted not to dwell on the back-and-forth that ensued with the fan.
“You can see that people just feel very entitled out here,” Irving said about the incident. “They paid for their tickets — great, I’m grateful that they’re coming in to watch a great performance. But we’re not at the theater. We’re not throwing tomatoes and other random stuff at the people that are performing.”
The Nets are only a single win away from entering the Eastern Conference semifinals, and they will meet the Milwaukee Bucks, who are red hot following a 4-0 sweep of the Heat.
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