For visiting teams, Boston can be an extremely hostile place to play. As the home of the Celtics, the city has enjoyed decades of prosperity as one of the league’s most successful teams, and fans have become extremely invested in their quest to bring home title No. 18.
Still, despite their place as an NBA juggernaut, the Celtics (and the city of Boston) don’t have the best reputation within the NBA community.
In fact, during a sit-down on VLAD TV, former NBA guard Gilbert Arenas revealed his own experience in the city and detailed the racism he encountered there during his career.
“When I was in Boston and someone was calling me the N-word, I was like, ‘Bro, you have a Paul Pierce jersey on,’” said Arenas. “… It’s like, how can you say you’re racist, but everybody – all the players in your arena – is just Black men back there. You got to earn your racism with me. You want me to believe you’re racist. I just want to see a Bob Cousy shirt. I just want to see all white people back there – like the old ones, just old white men. I don’t want to see no new Kevin Garnett on your back.”
I am not going to accuse the Celtics fan base of being racist. Chances are, most of them are genuinely good people who just have a passion for their team. Still, there is no shaking their reputation of racial intolerance, and it’s something that weighs on the minds of stars who might be considering going to play there.
“Because they racist as f**k, that’s why,” said LeBron James on why he hates Celtics fans. “They will say anything, and it’s fine. I mean, f**k, it’s my life, I’ve been dealing with them my whole life. I don’t mind it. I hear it, if I hear someone close by, I check them real quick. I move on to the game, whatever the f**k. They going to say whatever the f**k they want to say. They might throw something, I got a beer thrown on me leaving a game.”
When Maverick Carter brought up the fact that there were fans wearing F**k LeBron Shirts, James added “Yeah, it’s like a ‘F**k LBJ’ T-shirt. I believe they probably sold it at the f***ing team shop.”
Naturally, the Celtics have burned a lot of bridges, and after years of greatness and high-intensity play, their foes are eager to see them fail.
But if the Cs can kick it into another gear on the court and make another run to the NBA Finals this season, nobody will be talking about their supposed culture of racism.
