Where does Kyrie Irving rank amongst the great Celtics villains? (2024)

Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks are the only thing standing between the Boston Celtics and Banner 18. It’s all anyone can talk about. Having to go through Irving may be one of the greatest “final boss” battles in NBA history.

It’s no secret that he has a long history with the Celtics franchise and has become one of the greatest villains that the fanbase has ever seen.

Is he the leader of Boston’s rogues gallery? Is he at least close?

I’ve put together a pyramid to help rank some of the Celtics’ greatest enemies. I’ll start with the lower tiers and work the way up to the top. I’m only 25, so my deep memory may be lacking, but I did a fair deal of research to make sure I don’t displease some of our OGs here in the comments.

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Tier 6: Great players who happened to cross paths with the Celtics (and win)

There is certainly a sting that comes with defeat, even if you’re losing to one of the greats. The Celtics have run into their fair share of legends over the course of the franchise’s long history. Some of them have taken a more villainous and personal approach, while others have really just been in the way on business terms.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers matched up against the Celtics twice in the NBA Finals. Boston hung Banner 17 in 2008 but came up short in a Game 7 in 2010.

Bryant was the face of those Lakers and the driving force behind their success against Boston in the Finals. But that was really it. There wasn’t any added fuel to the fire with Kobe. His individual rivalry with the Celtics only lasted about three to five seasons.

He wasn’t one of these career criminals — he was just the guy standing in the way when the Finals rolled around.

Bryant was actually someone that Boston nearly drafted in 1996. Back in 2015, Baxter Holmes did a tremendous piece on Kobe’s perspective on that possibility. Unsurprisingly, he showed a great deal of respect for the Celtics and a vast knowledge of the team’s history.

He even said playing for Boston would’ve been an honor.

“I would’ve tried to carry on (Larry) Bird’s legacy,” Bryant told Holmes. “Absolutely. I would’ve done it with a tremendous amount of pride and honor.”

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors prevented the Celtics from hanging Banner 18 in 2022. Curry was phenomenal in that NBA Finals and wound up taking home the Finals MVP award. His performance left a bad taste in the mouths of some Cs fans, but overall, he isn’t the type of guy who should be towards the top of this pyramid.

Curry and the Warriors have had their fair share of battles with the Celtics over the past decade or so. Despite only seeing each other in the postseason once, the two sides have put together some fantastic regular-season classics. There was the double-overtime thriller in the 2015-16 season, where Boston nearly snapped Golden State’s 24-game undefeated streak to start their campaign. Later that season, the Cs got their revenge and ended the Dubs’ 54-game home winning streak at Oracle Arena.

The back-and-forth has remained the same since, as Curry is 6-8 over his past 14 regular-season meetings with Boston.

Magic Johnson

Now, I may have Magic Johnson a bit too low here for some of our OGs, but the beef just doesn’t seem to be there. Sure, he was responsible for the Lakers taking two championships away from Celtics fans in 1985 and 1987, and served as Larry Bird’s primary rival throughout his career.

However, Johnson doesn’t really have the same maliciousness about him as some of the higher-ranked villains do.

While he did have the role of Bird’s most prominent rival, there was a mutual respect between the two of them. Johnson even made an appearance to celebrate Bird’s career at his jersey retirement ceremony in 1993.

Photo by Tom Herde/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Maybe I’m completely wrong, but Magic’s personality is simply too positive for him to be amongst some of the more treacherous Celtics villains. He feels more like a great player who happened to be on a collision course with Boston, and that’s okay.

Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Tier 5: The “heel turn” guys

A “heel turn” is a term used in professional wrestling to describe the act of a good guy, or a “babyface,” becoming a bad guy, or a “heel.” It doesn’t happen as often in the NBA, since the results aren’t scripted, though it may feel as if they are at times (oh hey, Kyrie). However, every once in a while, we’ll get a good old-fashioned heel turn.

Ray Allen

In 2008, Ray Allen helped the Celtics win their 17th NBA championship. He, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce made up Boston’s new “Big 3,” after coming together thanks to a series of trades in the summer of 2007.

Allen spent five seasons in green, of course winning the title and coming close to a second in 2010. He was someone that fans grew to love because of his commitment to winning and long list of clutch buckets.

His tenure came to a close in 2012 when he elected to take his talents to South Beach to join the rival Miami Heat. Allen’s decision came shortly after Boston had pushed the LeBron James-led Heat to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Issues with his role on the team and an ongoing rift between him and Rajon Rondo wound up being enough to drive Allen away. He took less money and a bench role, which he did not want with the Celtics, to join the Heat.

Allen’s jump from Boston to Miami left his teammates and fans stunned. Garnett, Pierce, and Rondo were less than thrilled about the move.

Pierce wound up making amends with Allen about five years later, when the two played in a charity basketball game in China.

Garnett seemed to be the most offended of the bunch. He refused to acknowledge Allen when he faced his former team for the first time in October of that year.

For a while, KG wasn’t able to get past the fact that Allen joined the Celtics’ biggest rival at the time.

“I took that so personal because out of the places you could have, you could have went to L.A., you could have went to another team. You went to the one team you knew that we was beefing with. You knew that was a reel beef with us, bro,” Garnett said during an appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” last year.

Allen did end up burying the hatchet, turning up to Garnett’s jersey retirement in March of 2022.

As for Rondo, that can of worms is a bit too nasty to open up here, but this “Beef History” episode from SB Nation sums it up nicely.

Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

Bob McAdoo

Bob McAdoo is an outlier from the rest of the “heel turn” guys. The Hall-of-Famer played just 20 games for the Cs in the 1978-79 season, after being traded to them by the New York Knicks. According to McAdoo, he had no interest in being traded to Boston because he didn’t like the city and it did not like him.

“He said, ‘Mac, I heard you got traded.’ I come to the door rubbing my eyes and stuff, and I’m like, ‘what are you talking about?’ He said, ‘I heard you got traded.’... The Knicks hadn’t even called me or told me anything,” McAdoo told Michael Cooper during a 2020 appearance on the “Showtime with Coop” podcast.

“I didn’t want to go to Boston. I was hated in Boston, and I hated Boston myself. Back in the 70s, all the Black players knew that Boston was a graveyard for Black players.”

Though the Celtics as a franchise were not afraid to break barriers back in the day, being the first to roll out the first all-Black starting five and later hiring Bill Russell as the league’s first Black head coach, the city itself doesn’t hold that same reputation.

It’s not difficult to understand why McAdoo had no interest in playing for Boston. After being traded by the Cs (for picks that turned into Robert Parish and Kevin McHale), McAdoo bounced around before landing with the Lakers.

He would square off against the Celtics in back-to-back NBA Finals in 1984 and 1985, helping fuel L.A.’s hatred for Boston.

Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images

Kendrick Perkins

I bet you didn’t think you’d see Big Perk here, now did you?

Kendrick Perkins spent his first seven NBA seasons as a member of the Celtics. He was drafted in 2003, held down the starting center spot for the 2008 championship team, and probably would’ve helped them win a second title in 2010 had his ACL allowed for it.

The following season, Danny Ainge traded Perk away to the Oklahoma City Thunder, after bringing in Shaquille O’Neal the summer prior. The big man spent four and a half seasons with the Thunder before being dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now, this is where the villainy begins to trickle in. We already discussed the disdain that the 2008 core had for LeBron and the way that Allen had been alienated for joining him in Miami. During his time in Cleveland, Perk undoubtedly became a “LeBron guy.”

It’s completely understandable. They were teammates. He actually got to spend time and build a relationship with James. Maybe you don’t agree with me, but it felt a bit bizarre to see that from one of the players who had gone to battle with LeBron for years.

The complete heel turn came after Perkins’ playing career came to a close and he took a job in front of the cameras. Big Perk has fully embraced his role in the world of hot takes as one of ESPN’s talking heads. One take that he consistently harped on for years was his disbelief in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s ability to lead Boston to Banner 18.

His criticism got so ridiculous that Tatum, who hardly ever has anything to say, took to Twitter/X in order to clap back.

I get it. It’s part of Perk’s job to be critical of everyone, including his former team. But the continued prying at the Jays has rubbed many fans the wrong way, especially leading up to the 2024 NBA Finals.

Perkins has done everything possible to downplay the level of competition that his former team has faced up to this point.

I mean, just look at this.

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Tier 4: Career Criminals

Ah yes, the headaches that just won’t go away. Boston has had their fair share of “career-criminal” foes who continuously seemed to pop up no matter what. When these frequent run-ins happen, there is usually a little extra spice that comes with each encounter.

The Heat Culture quartet: Jimmy Butler, Udonis Haslem, Eric Spoelstra, and Dwyane Wade

Alright, so this group is intertwined enough to share a section. Jimmy Butler, Udonis Haslem, Eric Spoelstra, and Dwyane Wade have been the most prominent non-LeBron faces of the recent Heat-Celtics rivalry.

Each has been involved with most of, if not all of, the playoff battles between the two sides.

Butler has been the most recent face of “Heat Culture.” Each year he seemingly raises his game to another level when the playoffs roll around. With Boston having met Miami in four of the last five postseasons, Celtics fans have had plenty of experience with “Playoff Jimmy.”

The funny thing is that Butler’s playoff rises have spanned past his time in Miami. He was integral to the heart attack that the Chicago Bulls gave Boston in 2017’s opening round. Butler scored 30 then 22 points in Chicago’s two wins at TD Garden to start the series. Thankfully, the Cs went on to win the next four games, after Rondo, a Bull at this point, had broken his hand. Had it not been for the injury, Butler could very well have had another playoff victory over the Celtics.

His time in Miami has featured numerous playoff explosions against Boston. He’s scored 47, 41, and 35 (twice), all while spearheading the Heat-Celtics rivalry.

Even this season, when he wasn’t even playing due to a knee injury, Butler found a way to insert himself into the series. After Miami’s Game 2 win at TD Garden, Butler took to Instagram to troll Celtics fans.

In the very next game, Butler told TNT’s Chris Haynes that he was sick and tired of hearing the media praise the 64-18 Celtics on national television.

There’s no doubt that Jimmy has happily taken on the villain role when it comes to Boston.

His former teammate, Haslem was a part of every single playoff series between the two sides, excluding this year’s. He spent his entire 20-year NBA career playing in Miami, so it’s understandable that he acquired a distaste for the Celtics.

What isn’t understandable is the message he delivered to his teammates ahead of a game against Boston last season.

The story came to light during Bam Adebayo’s appearance on “The OGs” podcast back in December of 2023.

“We playing Boston, so you know his feelings,” Adebayo said of Haslem. “We’re in the huddle. Cap come in there, he gave his pregame speech and you know they retired Bill Russell’s jersey for everybody in the league. So, they got 6 in our rafters. And he’s in his pregame speech — ‘(expletive) Bill Russell, too.’”

Haslem went on to explain that he didn’t like that a Celtics jersey was retired league-wide, meaning Russell’s number hung in the rafters in Miami. He doubled down on the harsh jab at the league’s decision to honor the late Hall-of-Famer.

“I love Bill,” Haslem said. “No disrespect to Bill. I love you. He just caught that stray. But will you ever see a Miami Heat jersey hanging in the Boston rafters? Respect Bill Russell, I love him. Why the (expletive) he got to hang in here.”

Yeah, going after the late great Russell will absolutely earn you a spot on this list.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Haslem’s draft-classmate, Wade, absolutely belongs here as well. Oddly enough, he was part of that weird Bulls-Celtics series in 2017 too, but that’s not why he’s here.

Wade has probably had the greatest Heat career of anyone to put on the uniform. A large chunk of his success came in years where he and his teammates had to get past Boston.

In 2010, the Cs ended Wade’s season in the first round of the playoffs, eliminating the Heat in five games. From that point on, the battles got ugly. Once James and Chris Bosh arrived that summer, Miami’s team went to a new level.

That new level was enough to eliminate Boston in back-to-back seasons, the first of which may have featured his most vile moment.

Wade is someone who has a reputation of being a bit “dirty.” Whether or not it’s completely true is up for discussion, but he did a solid job of neutralizing Rondo during the 2011 playoffs.

After Rondo poked the ball away from Wade, Wade pulled Rondo to the floor and wound up dislocating his elbow. The injury may not have been Wade’s intent, but it did happen because of the unnecessary harm.

Again, the Heat went on to win that series and then the Eastern Conference Finals a year later at Boston’s expense.

His presence has been felt in recent years too, despite his playing days being over. He and Paul Pierce have this weird feud about which guy had the better career, so he still pops up every once in a while to say he was the superior player.

His former coach, Erik Spoelstra, has also been seemingly omnipresent as of late. Of course, with Miami’s continued postseason run-ins against Boston, the longtime Heat coach is going to be a high profile part of the matchup. Oddly enough, the villainy that comes along with Spo isn’t like the other Heat guys.

He doesn’t openly voice a disdain for the Celtics (though he probably enjoys ending their season). He just always manages to make an impact in these series, even if his team is outmatched. It honestly feels as if the Cs should have won all four meetings with Miami since 2020, but instead have won just two.

Spoelstra’s coaching ability has been a key part of Boston’s “underachievement” against the Heat. He just finds a way to get his guys to play above expectations and also loves to roll out zone defenses, which, for whatever reason, gave the Celtics fits up until this season.

Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

Draymond Green

Draymond Green being this high up in the pyramid feels a bit strange. He and the Warriors only ran into the Celtics during the 2022 NBA Finals. Aside from that, they haven’t played in many meaningful games.

For the purpose of this exercise, let’s compare Draymond to Lex Luthor, but like when he has his one-off battle with Batman instead of Superman.

Green had done a fine job of building himself a villainous resume far before he’d squared off against the Cs on the grand stage. His “physical play” has been a staple of his game, causing him to serve several suspensions for flagrant fouls and whatnot.

Boston got a dose of Green’s physicality in Game 2 of that Finals when he made it a point to “muck up the game.”

Celtics fans made sure to give him a warm welcome when the series shifted to Boston, raining down “F—— you, Draymond” chants from the stands. To his credit, Green didn’t take offense to the hostile crowd, but Klay Thompson and head coach Steve Kerr got their fair share of whining in.

The Finals against Green’s Warriors isn’t something that fans in Boston have forgotten about, as he’s still greeted with boos anytime he comes to town.

Oh, and there’s also the clip of him belittling Celtics great Paul Pierce in his final season, reminding him that he wasn’t Kobe.

Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images

Metta World Peace (Ron Artest)

Many will remember Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest) for his dagger in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals to help the Lakers hold off the Celtics.

Before that, he was a key piece of an Indiana Pacers core that became a consistent playoff foe for the Celtics. Artest’s Pacers matched up against the Cs each year from 2003-2005 (he did not play in 2005 due to the “Malice at the Palace” suspension). In the two series where he actually appeared, World Peace was Indiana’s second-leading scorer.

He also brought it on the defensive end of the floor, serving as the primary defender for Pierce in each of those series. The Truth shot 38.9% in the 2003 series, which Boston won and 34.2% in the 2004 series where they got swept.

When I asked the CelticsBlog Slack to chime in with names for this piece, this is what Greg Cassoli wrote about Artest: “Artest was fairly villainous. Kind of like a main villain that was defeated on the Pacers and then came back to life with that Lakers team that beat the Cs.”

He certainly did come back.

By the time the 2010 Finals rolled around, Artest wasn’t quite the two-way player that he once was, but he could still bring it on defense.

His 36.4% shooting percentage for the series and 34.4% clip from long range made it sting so much more when he was the one who buried the big shot in Game 7.

I’m not going to embed the clip out of respect.

Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Tier 3: The generational mistake

Rick Pitino

Back in 1997, the Celtics brought in Rick Pitino to become the franchise’s 13th head coach, while also giving him the role of team president. Pitino had won an NCAA National Championship at the University the year before and had prior NBA experience as the head coach of the Knicks.

Boston was so in on Pitino that they slighted a pair of franchise legends in order to secure the hire. Red Auerbach was required to step down from his role as team president so Pitino could take it on, and the Celtics picked Pitino over Larry Bird for the head coach role, after Bird had spent several seasons working as a “special assistant” to the team. Bird, who wanted to be a head coach, wound up taking on the role for the Pacers that season and won the NBA’s Coach of the Year.

There’s no doubt that he felt slighted by the franchise’s decision to hire Pitino. It’s part of the reason why he doesn’t come around much anymore. Anyone who is disappointed with Bird’s absence from big playoff games can blame the Pitino hire.

It was a hire that was ultimately defined by impatience.

“What I noticed playing for Coach (Pitino) at that time, I think you have to be patient. I think if you look at Rick Pitino and what he did in that era, he traded probably thirty guys,” said Antoine Walker during a 2013 interview with Comcast Sports New England (now NBC Sports Boston). “He’d sign guys and trade them right away. His patience level was so low. You have to be patient and you have to build something.”

Walker was right. His former coach LOVED to make moves. One of the first things he did upon arriving with the Celtics was to trade away Dino Radja, who had been a lone bright spot for the team during a dark period. The Croatian big man had spent four seasons with the Cs and felt he could be a part of the team’s future, being just 30 years old.

During an interview with “Sportando” in 2020, Radja detailed a conversation he had had with Pitino in the days before the trade.

“He told me ‘no, I don’t have the slightest interest to trade you. I want to build the team around you.’ After few days I found out he trade me to the worst organization there was back then: the Sixers.”

Radja wasn’t the only player who felt as if Pitino had done him wrong.

1997 No. 3 overall pick Chauncey Billups spent less than a full season with the Celtics before being offloaded in a trade.

Mind you, Billups was still a rookie trying to find his footing in the NBA and he was actually doing okay. He averaged 11.1 points and 4.3 assists per game in 51 appearances for the Cs. After leaving Boston, Billups went on to make five All-Star teams, win a Finals MVP with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, and eventually be named to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Mr. Big Shot revealed that he wasn’t a fan of Pitino’s coaching style, during a 2001 interview.

“He was up on the court, screaming the whole game,” Billups said of Pitino. “Every time I’d take two dribbles, he’d be screaming, and I’d have to look up to see where we were going. It was too much.”

Pitino’s hardheadedness was something that showed not only his work as president, but also as head coach.

He insisted on running a full-court press defense, which simply did not work in the NBA as it does in the college game.

His most memorable moment as a part of the organization was his “not walking through that door” rant. He reminded fans that the Celtics of old were, in fact, old and would not be coming back to take the floor.

Then he complained about not having cap space and wiggle room to bring in elite talent. It was pretty ironic since he’d been responsible for bringing in most of the players who were on the roster.

Photo by Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images

Tier 2: Public Enemy No. 1s

We have now entered into the elite range of Celtics villains. These are the type of players who fans have a special type of distaste for — the ones who will be booed at every available opportunity by the Garden faithful.

Kyrie Irving

Ah yes, the person that you probably clicked on this to hear about — our old friend Kyrie.

Long before he was asking Brad Stevens what government meant to him, Irving was tormenting the Celtics as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was the clear-cut No. 2 behind LeBron, during James’ second stint with the Cavs.

Irving played a key role in playoff victories over Boston in 2015 and 2017. After the second, there began to be some turmoil in Cleveland, which eventually lead to Kyrie asking to be traded. The Celtics, though not on Irving’s original list of preferred landing spots, pulled the trigger and brought him in.

Kyrie didn’t come without a cost, both literally and figuratively. In return for his services, the Cs had to send fan-favorite (to this day) Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and some draft capital to Cleveland. Thomas’ inclusion in the deal was a gut punch for many fans, but it was all going to be worth it, right?

Well, sort of. In Irving’s first season with Boston, things got off to a rough start. An alley-oop that the new Cs guard tossed to Gordon Hayward on Opening Night ended in tragedy. Hayward sustained a gruesome leg injury and would miss the entire season. This play, though not Irving’s fault, was almost a precursor for things to come.

The rest of the season probably went better than most people would’ve thought after Hayward’s injury. Boston wound up holding the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and was primed for a deep playoff run... and they were — just without Irving.

Kyrie had to miss the postseason, after undergoing knee surgery in early April. While he watched from the sidelines, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and Terry Rozier led the charge for a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to Irving’s old team, the Cavs.

There was also this weird piece to that, where Irving wasn’t in attendance for Game 7 because he had surgery to repair a deviated septum. Some people cared, some didn’t — it’s up to you to decide what to make of it. For what it’s worth, he was there on the bench throughout the playoffs to support the team.

The Celtics entered the following season with sky-high expectations after making such a deep run without Irving or Hayward.

To add an extra layer to the excitement, Irving, who was entering the last season of his contract, vowed to the home fans that he would re-sign in the offseason.

With both players back and ready to go, Boston felt like they were primed to make it to at least the Eastern Conference Finals.

Unfortunately, that was not how things went. Boston split their first 20 games of that season and from that point on, it was a rollercoaster. They had stretches where they looked like the team that everyone expected them to be, then other times where they’d leave everyone scratching their heads and wondering what was going on.

Despite the ups and downs, Irving still seemed pretty content with being a Celtic. He even teamed up with Nike to make a commercial about eventually getting his jersey retired in Boston.

As the All-Star break approached, the Cs were 32-19 heading into a Feb. 1 matchup with the Knicks. During media availability at that morning’s shootaround, Celtics fans got their first hint an Irving exit.

When asked about his impending free agency, he said, “At the end of the day, I’m going to do what’s best for me and my career... I don't owe anyone s—-.”

Boston won that game and proceeded to string together some solid ball on their way to a 37-21 record at the break.

Irving missed the final few games with a knee issue, but managed to suit up for the All-Star Game in Charlotte. It was there that he and Kevin Durant were taped discussing their next move, which was going to be somewhere (Brooklyn) that had “two max slots.”

Fast forward a few months to the playoffs. Irving and the Cs swept their way through the Pacers in Round 1, but then met their demise against the Milwaukee Bucks. The second round was unkind to Kyrie who averaged 20.6 points per game on just 35.6/21.9 shooting splits.

He was not good and it was a sorry way for him to go out. The display he put on throughout the series was completely apathetic. There were many times where he truly looked as if he was actively trying to lose those games.

That summer, Irving joined Durant in Brooklyn, ending his time with the Celtics.

Before the move became official, Kyrie may or may not have called into 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” to defend himself. It’s never been confirmed whether or not it was actually him, but the hosts seemed to think so.

Before ever debuting for the Nets, Irving detailed the final months of his time in Boston. He cited his grandfather’s passing as the thing that made him rethink his commitment to re-signing with the Celtics.

“I believ,e you know, after the Phoenix [game], I went to my grandfather’s memorial, and he passed on Oct. 23 and after he passed, basketball was the last thing on my mind,” Irving explained.

“A lot of basketball and the joy I had from it was sucked away from me. There was a facial expression that I carried around with me throughout the year. Didn’t allow anyone to get close to me in that instance, and it really bothered me. I didn’t take the necessary steps to get counseling or get therapy or anything to deal with someone that close to me dying. I’ve never dealt with anything like that.”

The New Jersey native went on to explain that he had to prioritize his family life over basketball and elected to return close to home with Brooklyn.

After this point, we didn’t get a ton of new “Kyrie vs. Boston” chapters until the 2021 playoffs.

Irving’s Nets matched up with the seventh-seeded Celtics in the opening round and took care of business in five games.

Game 4 of that series was the first time that TD Garden was allowed to be at near-capacity, following the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans in the stands mercilessly booed Irving, who poured in 39 points that night.

After his scoring outburst, Kyrie made it a point to stomp on Boston’s “Lucky” logo at mid-court.

A year later, the beef reached its boiling point. The two sides met in the postseason once again, this time with Boston being the higher seed. Despite that, the Nets were not the typical seventh seed. Their record was heavily impacted by Irving’s inability to play games at home, due to New York City’s vaccination requirements.

Those requirements were lifted ahead of the playoffs, so this series was supposed to be a slugfest...but it wasn’t.

Boston took care of Kyrie’s Nets in a four-game sweep, even though the matchups were tightly contested.

In the series opener, Irving once again posted 39 points in Boston. He was once again met with a chorus of boos every single time he touched the ball.

What made this game great was Kyrie’s decision to embrace being the villain. He showed fans the middle finger multiple times and mimicked them crying throughout the game.

This series marked the last time that we really got to see the bad blood between Celtics fans and Kyrie. He requested a trade from the Nets a year later and has since been far away in the Western Conference with the Mavs.

His final game as a member of the Nets just so happened to be a 43-point blowout loss to Boston. It came exactly four years after his “I don’t owe anybody s—-” comments.

Now, with an NBA title hanging in the balance, the next chapter of Irving’s Celtics villainy will be written.

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LeBron James

LeBron has ties to so many of these other Celtic villains. He was the reason why Allen’s departure stung so much, why figures like Wade, Spoelstra, and Haslem have become so unlikable, and even was part of Kyrie’s villain origin story.

Ironically enough, he himself has probably the best origin story of all.

James spent the early part of career as a member of the Cavs. He quickly began to meet some of the high expectations that surrounded him upon entering the league as “The Chosen One.” As he was ascending, Paul Pierce made a point to go at James any time the two met on the court.

In LeBron’s first two seasons in the league, Pierce had already given him 41 points while consistently talking trash, and later spit in the direction of Cleveland’s bench.

The groundwork had been laid for a long rivalry.

We got our first chapter of meaningful basketball between James and the Celtics in 2008, when the two met in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

LeBron and the Cavs managed to push the series to seven games, before eventually falling to Boston’s Big 3. He and Pierce dueled in the series decider, scoring a combined 86 points.

Two seasons later, Cleveland met the Celtics in the postseason again in the exact same round. This time, LeBron and company were the favorites after putting together a 61-win season.

Nonetheless, Boston took care of business and eliminated the Cavs in six games, temporarily ending James’ time with his hometown team.

That summer, he would “take his talents to South Beach” to team up with Wade and Bosh to for a super team that was built to beat Boston. From that point on, James has never lost another playoff series to the Celtics, despite crossing paths several times.

Each of those run-ins felt personal. LeBron didn’t like Boston, the Celtics did not like him, and neither did the fans.

It didn’t take long for us to get a Miami-Boston playoff meeting. The first came in 2011, when he and the Heat eliminated the Cs in just five games. James and his teammates celebrated as if they’d won an NBA title. You could tell that Miami’s Big 3 had a disdain for Boston, after battling the Celtics for years. This was truly one of those “passing of the torch” moments that are sprinkled throughout NBA history.

A year later, the Celtics had a chance for revenge in the Eastern Conference Finals. A clutch three from Pierce in Game 5 gave them a 3-2 lead over their rivals heading back to Boston for a closeout Game 6.

This is the Game 6 that many believe to be the best game of LeBron’s career. He scored 45 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and dished five assists while shooting an efficient 19-26 from the field to force a Game 7, which he and the Heat also won.

Fans will still get up for regular-season meetings with LeBron and the Heat, but there wasn’t any more playoff action until 2015, after James had returned to Cleveland.

He and the Cavs swept Boston in the first round that season, then made quick work of them two years later in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Cs saw their final playoff battle with LeBron in 2018 — the same year where Irving missed the postseason due to knee surgery. The series went the distance despite “The Hosptial Celtics” being the ones standing across from The King.

Unfortunately, it ended like the others in a heartbreaking fashion. Boston failed to capitalize on a pair of opportunities to send the Cavs home, including a Game 7 at home, where they hadn’t lost all postseason. James took his game to another level once again and sent the Celtics home sad.

That offseason, LeBron added to his evil resume by joining the rival Lakers as a free agent. He cemented himself as one of Boston’s greatest villains when he helped L.A. tie Boston in championships at 17.

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas

I’d lose quite a bit of hater credibility if I didn’t give the “Bad Boy Pistons” some shine on this list. Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer were and remain some of the least-liked figures in NBA history to some Celtics fans.

The two were the faces of Boston’s biggest Eastern Conference rival in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Detroit faced off with the Celtics five times in seven seasons from 1985 to 1991 (I wasn’t around, but from what I’ve heard, people have strong feelings about that 1991 series).

Over the course of those meetings, Cs fans grew despise both players, especially Laimbeer. If you’re on the younger side, like me, just imagine what a seven-foot tall rich-white guy version of Draymond Green would be like with less strict rules.

Laimbeer made his presence known in Game 2 of the 1985 playoff series between Boston and Detroit. He hit Larry Bird with a pair of elbows in that one, igniting a long feud between the two. Boston wound up winning the series on their way to a second-straight NBA Finals appearance.

Two seasons later, the two sides met once again, this time in the conference finals. After the Celtics captured the first two games in Boston, they headed to Detroit for Game 3. Laimbeer made his presence known in this one, clotheslining Bird after biting on a pump fake. The incident sparked a brief spat between Bird and Laimbeer, where Larry rifled the ball at Laimbeer’s face. Both guys wound up getting ejected.

Boston didn’t forget the cheap shot and Robert Parish delivered a clubbing blow to the Pistons center in Game 5 of that series.

After the Cs finished the job in seven games, Thomas took center stage when he sniped at Bird with some comments to the media. He told reporters that Larry “would be just another good guy” instead of one of the league’s best if he wasn’t white.

Thomas already had some heat from Boston fans before that, but calling out Bird in that way became a massive story. He wound up having to hold a joint press conference with Larry to diffuse the situation.

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Though Bird and Thomas seem to have a fine relationship today, Celtics fans haven’t forgiven “Zeke” for his many years serving as the face of Boston’s biggest rival.

The Garden faithful even booed Thomas, much to Mike Gorman’s chagrin, when he appeared as part of the tribute for Kevin Garnett’s jersey retirement in 2022.

Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Tier 1: Arch Nemesis, GOAT, whatever you want to call him.

Pat Riley is “The Joker” to the Celtics’ “Batman,” the “Green Goblin” to Boston’s “Spider-Man,” (maybe “Doc Ock” if you’re more into him, both great villains), the “Voldemort” to their “Harry Potter,” or perhaps even “The Chicken” to Boston’s “Peter Griffin.”

He’s the one guy who has been and will be there no matter what.

Riley’s history with the Cs is a long one. He’s someone who has had beef with Boston since he was a player for the rival Lakers in the early 1970s. After his playing career came to a close, Riley found himself as an assistant coach for L.A., before eventually becoming the head guy in 1981 — just in time for the 80’s Lakers-Celtics rivalry to get cooking.

He coached in three NBA Finals against Boston, winning two of them and playing a key role in the deep hatred that his side held for their rivals. Riley even went as far as to call the Celtics “a bunch of thugs.” His slicked-back hair and flashy suits helped embody the “Showtime” that surrounded those Lakers teams. By all accounts, Cs fans hated it and hated him, while he hated them right back.

After his time with the Lakers, Riley’s rivalry with Boston fizzled a bit while they went through their 1990s “dark ages.”

Once, the Celtics got back to being amongst the NBA’s elite in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Riley had made his way to Miami, where he was/still is the President of the Heat. Since taking on this new role, he has been the face of Boston’s most prominent rival over the past 15 or so years.

Riley put together Miami’s “Big 3” of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh to compete with the Celtics’ trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Allen. After his squads beat Boston in both the 2011 and 2012 playoffs, he lured Allen to South Beach as a free agent.

In March of 2013, he and Danny Ainge got into their weird back-and-forth beef (incredibly detailed by SB Nation below), after Ainge essentially called LeBron a crybaby.

Riley has remained at the forefront of Boston’s rivalry with Miami. The two sides have now met in the playoffs in four of the last five seasons and he can always be seen looking on from the stands. Riley has become the godfather of “Heat Culture” which I’m sure is a term that Celtics fans are more than sick of hearing.

With the Cs having as long and storied of a history as they do, I wouldn’t be shocked if I forgot a few guys who were thorns in their side somewhere along the way. Nonetheless, it’s been a ton of fun to go back and reflect on some of the journeys that these guys embarked on in order to become some of the great Celtic villains.

Let me know if I missed anyone down in the comments. If you made it this far, I appreciate it!