WALTHAM, Mass. – The NBA has talked with Celtics guard Kyrie Irving about disparaging comments he made to a fan at halftime that have since gone viral.
Irving said the incident happened as the Celtics were heading back to the locker room at halftime after the Celtics fell behind 50-46 to the Sixers.
MORE:
- Highlights: Celtics 102, 76ers 92
- Kyrie: 'We have each other's back throughout whatever, whenever'
- Stevens: This is a really good win to build off of
- BLAKELY'S Five Takeaways: This is how it's going to work now
“Kyrie, where’s LeBron?” yelled the fan.
Irving replied with a lewd suggestion.
After practice on Saturday, Irving acknowledged that he did say something to a fan and that he had a conversation with the league regarding the incident.
Regrets?
“Hell no,” Irving said. “Man enough to record it on video, that’s on him. I’m glad he got his ad name out there, and his five seconds of fame and it’s gone viral. That’s the social media platform we live on.
Boston Celtics
Irving added, “I take full responsibility for what I said. You move on.”
The league has not officially announced a fine for Irving, but it’s more a matter of when not if that will be forthcoming.
In fact, earlier today, the league fined New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins $25,000 for “inappropriate language” towards a fan in the Pelicans’ 103-91 loss at Memphis on Wednesday.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens had not seen the video in question but was aware that Irving had been in conversations with the league office regarding the incident.
“Guys know what the right thing to do is,” Stevens said. “People make mistakes; hopefully learn from them and move on. There’s a right and wrong. And if you’re in the wrong you have to own up to it and that’s that.”