The Boston Celtics made their second significant move of the offseason on Tuesday when they stunned everyone and dealt Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and Brooklyn’s 2018 first round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving. It’s rare to see two stars traded for each other, and even rare for it to happen between the two top teams in the same conference, but Boston finally pulled the trigger on a deal to bring in another superstar.
The move led to a wide array of emotions from fans in Boston. There wasn’t a consensus reaction to the move, with some excited, some not so thrilled with all they gave up, and a select few that were dumb enough to burn Isaiah Thomas jerseys for an unknown reason. As the season nears, even the doubters of this deal will slowly talk themselves into it — that’s what fandom is all about — and even the Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston’s Triple-A affiliate, is here to help get people excited about the deal.
It was announced late that Pawtucket will be hosting “Kyrie Irving Night” tonight where they will allow all fans wearing Celtics gear in free and will even feature a dunk tank outside the stadium where fans can dunk a guy in a LeBron Cavs jersey into the water, according to ESPN.
“We know how popular the Boston Celtics are throughout the area,” PawSox executive vice president and general manager Dan Rea said, “and we hope that our fans will enjoy an evening that trumpets Kyrie Irving’s arrival.”
While those wearing Celtics green will get in free, they’ll try to recoup that money by charging double to “any fan by the name LeBron, Draymond, Steph, Lonzo or Kevin [Love or Durant].” As far as minor league baseball promo nights go, this is a pretty clever one and maybe it can help galvanize some excitement, at least in Pawtucket, for Irving’s arrival in Boston.
