NBA Announces Fine for Kyrie Irving After Incident With Cavaliers Fan

Irving had some choice words for a fan in Cleveland during a game this week.

Kyrie Irving didn't get a very warm welcome in Cleveland on Monday. During Brooklyn‘s game at the Cavaliers, he had some choice words for court-side fans, and the exchange wound up costing him.

“Got y'all a championship, mother------s still ungrateful,” Irving said in response to some apparent hecklers. After the video of the back-and-forth went viral on social media, the NBA announced a $25,000 fine for the Nets star for “directing obscene language toward a fan.”

Irving, who is only playing in Brooklyn road games due to an ongoing New York City vaccine mandate, led the team with 27 points, adding nine assists and seven rebounds. It wasn't enough to overcome his former team, with the Cavs pulling away with a 114–107 win.

Fellow former Cavaliers LeBron James was noted as the leader of the 2016 Cavaliers in the fans’s heckles, though as Stephen A. Smith pointed out on Twitter, Cleveland probably doesn't win the Finals without Irving's play against Golden State. 

I completely side with KYRIE on this one. Sure, @KingJames has to get the most credit, but KYRIE avg 27 in that finals and hit the dagger to secure the title. Fair is Fair. @cavs don’t win title w/o KYRIE. Cleveland — of all places — should appreciate him most of all. https://t.co/m181yWm750

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) January 19, 2022

Irving is seeking his second title in 2022. Brooklyn is currently dealing with Irving’s part-time status, as well as a recent knee injury to Kevin Durant, which is expected to sideline him for at least a month.

In five games since the Nets’s decision to play him in road contests, Irving is averaging 22 points, 5.4 assists and five rebounds per game.