Kyrie Irving is trying to make amends with himself and the public by admitting he wasn't acting in his own best interests or that of anyone else when he flipped the bird at Boston Celtics during the 2022 NBA postseason as a member of the Brooklyn Nets.
Irving told reporters on June 3 that such a display didn't properly reflect who he was and that it set a poor example for a young generation of hoopers who were watching him get swept in the first round by the Cs.
"I will say last time in Boston, I don't think that was the best—not this regular season, but when we played in the playoffs and everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my s--t a little bit—that wasn't a great reflection of who I am and how I like to compete on a high level," Irving said (h/t ESPN). "It wasn't a great reflection on my end towards the next generation on what it means to control your emotions in that type of environment, no matter what people are yelling at you."
Kyrie Irving sending mixed messages toward Boston Celtics fans ahead of NBA Finals
On one hand, you have Irving apologizing for the way he acted the last time he was in Boston. Giving the middle finger to the crowd and not winning a single game is worth apologizing for certainly, and acknowledging the bad example that sets is a high-road move.
Still, he didn't take back his stomp on the lucky logo at midcourt in 2021, so he's not fully extending the olive branch. And furthermore, he also said that he never wanted to be a member of the Celtics in the first place, so he's mixing in some oppositional energy with his nice guy act.
Irving and Celtics fans will never truly see eye to eye considering how much hurt there was by his lack of enthusiasm playing for one of the NBA's most storied franchises and his checking out mentally during the 2019 postseason as he dribbled them out of it against the Milwaukee Bucks.
And they definitely won't see eye to eye as Irving sends mixed messages to the fanbase ahead of a Finals series that'd make him more hated in Boston than A-Rod, Magic Johnson, and Eli Manning combined.