Boston’s TD Garden crowd will be front and center on Friday night in the national spotlight after Kyrie Irving said Tuesday he hoped for no “belligerence” or “subtle racism” in his return as an opponent to Boston.
Tristan Thompson is in his first year with Boston but spent seven years as a teammate of Irving in Cleveland through the 2017-18 season. Cleveland battled Boston two straight years in the postseason during that run.
Here’s everything he said when asked about Irving’s comments on “subtle racism” in Boston and what his experience has been as an opponent and member of the Celtics in TD Garden.
(Have you heard anything racial at the Garden during your time as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers with Kyrie Irving?) “Why did I think I was going to get this question asked to me? Um, yeah, of course, definitely. I mean, I think that’s what makes Boston fans special, not the racism part, but the part that they’re very into the game and they want to be the sixth man on the court with how they can get under our skin and taunt us and try to do that. I’ve definitely heard guys say some crazy stuff, but I think that they’re just trying to do that to try into the player’s head and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. At the end of the day, my experience, personally, being a Celtic, nobody has said anything racial to me as a player. As a visitor, it’s a different story. But I mean, if they choose to use those kind of words to get a player’s attention, that comes from their home training and the lack of home training, as my mom would say. So for us, me being a Celtic now, they’ve been great, they’ve embraced me with open arms and supported me. So hopefully they can be loud tonight and be a huge for us in the crowd tonight.”
(Having experienced racial abuse as a visitor before at the Garden, is that something that needs to be addressed more seriously by the team and the league?) “Was that an anomaly in Boston or is that something you have experienced traveling throughout the league?) There’s certain cities you can expect some racial slurs will be used around the third quarter when someone has enough beers, and they know they’re far enough away from us where they know we can’t do nothing to them. Of course, the fans are very important to us in this league, and we appreciate them and their support every night. But there’s a fine line of when it becomes too much - when you start using racial slurs or talking about someone’s kids. Then you’re going too far, past that line. The league’s doing everything they can. The arena gives all the rules and regulations. You saw in Philly and Utah, and even New York, the fans crossing that line. For that they got their season tickets revoked. There should probably also be like a fine, a criminal fine, because if you spit on someone going down the street - don’t you get fined or arrested or something, some s— like that? If you spit on people in the arena and can’t on the street, it should be the same protocol. I dare a m——— to spit on me. I’ll follow you right to your house.”
The Celtics and Nets face off in TD Garden for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Everything Tristan Thompson said responding to Kyrie Irving’s comments about experiencing racism at TD Garden - MassLive.com
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment