Check Out This Maine Reporter’s Hilariously Savage Celtics T-Shirt
This Celtics-Heat playoff series has been a nonstop rollercoaster of emotions, but amidst the tension and animosity, one familiar face found a way to remind us all of what’s really important: Kyrie Irving is a really lame fella.
Johnny Maffei, a reporter for WGME/CBS 13 in Portland, became an overnight Boston sports legend on social media after a photo of his ingenious Celtics shirt alteration went viral.
It all started with a tweet from @Steve_Perrault, who shared a snapshot of Maffei at Thursday's Celtics playoff game, sporting a rather unique piece of fan gear. The photo featured the back of a Celtics t-shirt, with the name cut out to expose Maffei's back. What made it truly hilarious was the fact that the shirt bore the number 11, former Boston Celtics player and current bitter rival, Kyrie Irving's jersey number.
Kyrie does not like Celtics fans, and the feeling is mutual.
The Celtics-Kyrie Irving saga has been filled with twists and turns, leaving many fans feeling uneasy by the former star point guard's decision to leave Boston for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019. Maffei's creativity not only caught the attention of fans but also highlighted the passionate dedication of Boston sports enthusiasts, who are never shy about expressing their feelings. Something that Kyrie has made very clear over the years that he does not like about Boston sports fans.
Maffei's playful fashion statement struck a chord with Celtics fans, who have been grappling with mixed feelings about the enigmatic Irving since his departure from the team. The tweet quickly gained traction, accumulating 3.5+ thousand likes, over half a million views, and counting.
It's worth mentioning that Kyrie isn't the only Celtics player to don the number 11 jersey in recent years. Payton Pritchard, Enes Freedom, Evan Turner, Jerryd Bayless, Courtney Lee, Sasha Pavlović, Glen Davis, and even Jayson Tatum during the 2017 Summer League have all also proudly worn the number just in the past decade.
The #11 is extra fun, as in 2017, when Kyrie was traded to Boston, he appeared in a Nike commercial where he said "(my dad) is the reason I wear #11, and I want to be the reason that no one else will." insinuating that he wanted that jersey number to be retired after a long and successful career in Boston. Didn't quite work out like that.
And of course, as a professional, I wanted to provide an example of Maffei's work where he's not sporting a huge hole in the back of his shirt:
I, too, once owned a Kyrie Irving Celtics shirt. However, I just burned it like a normal, boring Boston fan.