In a recent game between the Dallas Mavericks and Charlotte Hornets, tensions ran high as Kyrie Irving, the Nets’ star point guard, responded to boos and jeers from Mavericks’ fans with a fiery rant.
The Mavs made a great move by including Kyrie in their squad in hopes for a deep playoff run, albeit the star guard’s entry into Texas didn’t go well as the team is 7-12 since his arrival in February.
The Mavs lost 117-109 to the Hornets, at 11th position in the West Conference with a 36-38 record battling to play in the tournament ahead of them.
What did Kyrie Irving say about getting booed by the home crowd?
Following the dumbfounding loss at home to the Hornets and three back-to-back defeats, the Dallas Mavericks fans couldn’t hold themselves back from booing the players.
The eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving was asked about the booing of the natives in the postseason press conference.
“So what?…You obviously want to play well, but it’s only five people on the court that can play for Dallas Mavericks. If the fans want to change places, then hey, be my guest. Got years of work ahead to be great enough to be on this level. But our focus isn’t necessarily on the boos, it should be on the performance”, Kyrie stated.
This statement by the eight-time All-Star will not surely please the fans as they had high expectations from the team following the deal of Kyrie and Doncic, yet, Dallas is now 3-7 in games with these two veteran players.
However, Dallas’ coach Jason Kidd fully agreed with the crowd as he mentioned after the match that his team should have booed in the first quarter when the Mavs allowed 37 points to the Hornets and remarked the team’s effort as “awful”, and ” dogs–t”.
“Probably should have been booed in the first quarter, just the effort in the play. They [the fans] have a right [to boo], they paid to see a better show. It wasn’t there until the second half. We can’t come out like that, especially this time of the year”, Jason stated.
The incident is just the latest example of the growing tension between players and fans in the NBA, with many athletes speaking out about the need for better protection against abusive behavior from the stands. However, outrage from the fans is also justified as they have high hopes for their favorite teams. Hopefully, Dallas will bounce back in the remaining games.
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