A 21-year-old man from suburban Braintree, Mass., is awaiting arraignment on assault and battery charges by means of a dangerous weapon after allegedly throwing a water bottle in the direction of Kyrie Irving following the Boston Celtics’ Game 4 playoff loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
The man was identified as Cole Buckley. He was taken into custody, wearing a green Celtics Kevin Garnett jersey, minutes after the incident. His arraignment is set for today in Boston Municipal Court.
The bottle did not strike Irving, but it caught his attention, and he and several teammates stopped and had words with the fan, who faces a lifetime ban from TD Garden.
The Nets won 141-126 to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series. After the victory, Irving made a point to step on the Celtics logo at midcourt before heading to the locker room.
He addressed the occurrence after the game.
“People just feel very entitled out here,” Irving said. “They paid for the tickets. Great. I’m grateful they’re coming in to watch a great performance. But we’re not at the theater.
We’re not throwing tomatoes and other random stuff at the people that are performing. It’s too much. And it’s a reflection on us as a whole.”
Irving drew boos throughout the game from the crowd of 17,226. He played for Boston for two seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19 before heading to Brooklyn, despite telling fans he intended to re-sign with the Celtics
Irving scored 39 points and had 11 rebounds in the game.
Game 5 is scheduled for tonight in Brooklyn.
—Field Level Media
