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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving says he plans to burn sage before every game this season to honor his Native American heritage.
Irving saw the burning of sage – what is known as ‘smudging’ – on the field of TD Garden during warm-ups before his Nets beat the Boston Celtics 113-89 Friday night in the NBA preseason final for both teams.
“It just comes from a lot of indigenous tribes,” Irving said after the game. “To be able to sage, just clear the energy, make sure we are all in balance. When we get into this job, we get to this place, it’s not something I don’t do at home that I did today. saged last game, and I plan to sage almost every game if the other team allows me to.
“But, literally, it’s more or less for us to stay connected and for us to feel good when we go to work and feel safe and cared for by our ancestors. I’m not going into too much of spirituality bring basketball, but yes, it is part of my native culture where I come from. “
Irving was included in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe – of which his mother, Elizabeth, was a member – in the summer of 2018. Seeing the sage burn for Friday’s game, it was speculated that it could have something to do with his return and playing in Boston for the first time since leaving as a free agent to join the Nets last summer.
But it came as no surprise to his teammates.
“That’s his thing. Kyrie will probably designate his room before playing 2K when he gets home,” Kevin Durant told ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth.
That’s exactly what he does. That gives us good 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 extremely hard for us. ‘
As for the match itself, the Nets cruised, and blew out the Celtics a week before the two teams meet in Boston on Christmas Day (5pm ET, ABC). Irving had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 28 minutes, while Durant had 25 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes.
And despite Irving’s bitter departure from Boston, as well as the trials and tribulations that entered his second season with the Celtics, he was all smiles after the game. He had a long talk and hugged Celtics assistant coach Jerome Allen, exchanging greetings with former teammates Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis and Robert Williams.
Irving traded sweaters with Tatum and Williams, and had a long, happy chat with both Brown and Tatum before leaving the job. He said afterwards that coming back to play here was nothing remarkable to him.
“Frankly, it’s like a new workday,” Irving said. “I’m grateful to be able to have relationships with many of these guys out there, guys that aren’t there yet. And at the end of the day we went to war together. And I respect all those young men down there.
“We’re not even young. We’re just young kings growing in a company where we want to do what makes us happy. To see Jayson get better, to watch Jaylen get better, to watch these guys grow up and get into the positions They’re in I’m just proud of them To see other guys be happy that’s all I want Coming here is easy man Performing here is easy Performing here is easy Basketball is the easy part. It’s just the outside stuff that gets noisy beforehand, so I’m trying to limit that. “