Kyrie Irving Fined $25K for Talking Back

© 2107 Jordan Long
The Boston Celtics are 2-2.  Over the weekend they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-92.  Kyrie Irving was fined $25,000. According to yahoosports.com, league Vice President Kiki VanDeWeghe said, "Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving has been fined $25,000 for using inappropriate language when responding to a fan.”  The fan was yelling “Kyrie, where's LeBron" as Kyrie was headed to locker room.  Irving said something to the fan and it was caught on video.”

Some fans try to get under the skin of a player.  It happens at all sporting events, especially when the team is on the road.  In this case the fan annoyed Kyrie Irving.  All Irving had to do was walk away and ignore the fan.   His teammates could have told him not to worry about what the fan was saying and keep walking.  The event staff might have said something to the fan and it might have stopped there.

But that did not happen.  Sure, the fan might have been trying to get his 30 seconds of fame and even recorded the altercation.  Kyrie said something.  The NBA had to fine him and hopefully this will be the last time Irving is hurt in the pocketbook.  There was no way the NBA could let this go.

Irving has to act smarter.  He is in the eye of the public.  He has to assume that anything he does off the court will be videoed and it’s a certainty that anything he does on or near the court will be recorded.  If he reacts to anything a fan says, the league will have the evidence.  Irving is also lucky that the fan didn’t try to get him to do something worse than just him talking back.  Hopefully, this is a learning experience for him and he will keep his cool next time. 

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