The 25-year-old point guard of Boston Celtics, Kyrie Irving, is off to a bad start in the 2017-18 NBA season. On Sunday, the league decided to fine Kyrie Irving $25,000 for verbally abusing a Philadelphia 76ers fan. It happened during the halftime of the game against Philadelphia 76ers on Friday when a fan of 76ers asked Kyrie Irving about his former teammate, LeBron James. In a video circulated on social media, the fan asked Irving, “Kyrie, where is LeBron James” and Irving replied in an inappropriate language.
The league’s vice president, Kiki Vandeweghe, said in a statement “Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving has been fined $25,000 for using inappropriate language when responding to a fan.”
Kyrie Irving took responsibility for the incident
The Boston Celtics point guard took out full responsibility for the incident. Irving said that he will take full responsibility to what he said and excuse to the kids at home but doesn’t regret to what happened. According to Chris Forsberg of ESPN, Kyrie Irving acknowledged a profane outburst to a Philly fan that yelled at him about LeBron James on Friday and does not regret the incident.
As per Chris Forsberg of ESPN, Kyrie Irving said that "At the end of the day, we're human." Irving said that the incident happened in the heat of the moment as they were down by four points at the halftime of the game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Irving added that the only thing that matters to him is getting the win, staying composed, addressing the issues they need to do in the locker room and going out handling the business.
Strict implementation of NBA rules
The strict enforcement of the rules and regulations of the NBA has already seen at the start of the season.
Kyrie Irving was not the first one to receive such fines for inappropriate behavior. On Saturday, the New Orleans Pelicans center, DeMarcus Cousins has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for an inappropriate language towards a fan during the season-opening game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The incident occurred with less than a minute remaining in the game.
DeMarcus Cousins and a female fan were reportedly exchanging insults directed towards each other. They were using inappropriate language that led to DeMarcus receiving a technical foul for his actions. On Saturday, the NBA announced that Cousins would have to pay a fine of $25,000 but rescinded the technical foul given to him during the game against the Grizzlies.
