Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving has resigned to the role of the villain in Boston and is less concerned with silencing hostile Boston Celtics fans than he is with overcoming self-doubt and leading his team in an NBA Finals match you must win.
“Let’s just call it what it is,” Irving said Sunday as the Mavs prepared for Game 5, where they will again try to avoid elimination in the championship series in which they trail 3-1 to the Celtics .
“When the fans cheer ‘Kyrie sucks,’ they feel like they have a psychological advantage, and that’s fair,” said Irving, who was hounded by Celtics fans still smarting from his departure in 2019 after two seasons with the team.
