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In the latest episode of The Shop, LeBron James was asked, ”why do you hate Boston?” And the Lakers star, who is also a partial owner of the Boston Red Sox, gave a blunt response, one that echoes what other NBA players have previously said.
“Because they’re racist as f---.”
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James went on to describe how he had a beer thrown at him one time when he left a game. But after a lengthy storied career, he says he hardly listens to what they’re saying: ”They’re gonna say whatever the f--- they want to say.”
Warning: The video below contains profanity.
Celtics guard Jaylen Brown addressed Kyrie Irving’s comments ahead of Game 3 of their teams’ first-round playoff matchup in April. The Nets star had said that he hoped fans would focus on “strictly basketball” in their comments towards him when they played in Boston.
During Brown’s media availability prior to Boston’s Game 3 win over Brooklyn, he spoke about systemic racism in basketball, including what he’s experienced with his own team’s fanbase.
“I know that every Celtics fan in our arena is not a racist. We have people of all walks of life, ethnicities, colors, that are die-hard Celtics fans. So I think painting every Celtics fan as a racist would be unfair. However, Boston, we’ve got a lot of work to do, no question.”
Celtics guard Marcus Smart, though, echoed Irving’s comments prior to that game. Back in Oct. 2020, he penned an article for The Player’s Tribune, detailing an encounter with a fan after a game from a few years prior. Smart wrote that he told a woman wearing a Celtics jersey to get out of the street to avoid oncoming traffic, and the woman responded by shouting a racial slur at him.
“I’ve heard a couple of them,” Smart said ahead of Game 3 in 2021, according to Jay King of The Athletic. “It’s kind of sad and sickening because even though it’s an opposing team, we have guys on your home team that you’re saying these racial slurs and you’re expecting us to go out there and play for you.”
