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Tim good morningESPN
BOSTON – Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving says he plans to burn sage before every game this season to honor his Native American heritage.
Irving was seen burning wise (known as the “spot”) on the TD Garden track during warm-ups before his Nets beat the Boston Celtics 113-89 on Friday night in the preseason finale of the NBA for both teams.
“It just comes from a lot of native tribes,” Irving said after the game. “Being able to point out, clean up the energy, make sure we’re all balanced. When we get into this job, we get to this place, I haven’t done anything I don’t do at home. Today I rehearsed the last game, and I plan to find out almost every game if the opposing team allows me.
“But literally it’s more or less that we’re connected and that we feel really good when we go to work and we feel safe and proportionate to our ancestors. I won’t bring too much spirituality to basketball, but yes, it’s part of my home culture. where i am from “.
Irving was incorporated into the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe tribe, which included his mother, Elizabeth, in the summer of 2018. When the sage was seen burning before Friday’s game, it was speculated that he may have had some something to do with his return and playing in Boston for the first time since he left as a free agent to join the Nets last summer.
But his teammates were not surprised.
“That’s her thing. Kyrie probably knows her room before she plays 2K when she gets home,” Kevin Durant told ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth.
“That’s what he does. That gives us a lot of energy. He does it in the locker room. That’s his thing and we all respect him. We respect his method and he comes out here and plays us really hard.”
As for the game itself, the Nets crossed, flying the Celtics a week before the two teams met in Boston on Christmas Day (17:00 ET, ABC). Irving scored 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 28 minutes, while Durant scored 25 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes.
And, despite Irving’s bitter departure from Boston, as well as the trials and tribulations that led to his second season with the Celtics, it was quite a smile after the game. He had a long chat and hug with Celtics assistant coach Jerome Allen, and exchanged greetings with teammates Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis and Robert Williams.
Irving exchanged T-shirts with Tatum and Williams, and had a long optimistic conversation with Brown and Tatum before leaving court. He later said that playing here again was nothing remarkable for him.
“Honestly, it’s like another day at work,” Irving said. “I’m grateful to be able to have relationships with a lot of these guys who are still here, guys who aren’t there yet. And in the end, we went to war together. And I respect all these young men down there.
“We’re not even young. We’re just young kings growing up in a business where we want to do what makes us happy. Seeing Jayson improve, seeing Jaylen improve, seeing these guys mature and being in positions are there, not n “I’m more than proud. Seeing other guys be happy, that’s all I could wish for. Getting here is easy, man. Acting here is easy. Acting here is easy. Basketball is the easiest part. It’s external things.” that before they become noisy, so I try to limit it. “