Kelly Oubre Jr. knows the boos are coming. In fact, the Washington Wizards guard says he’s looking forward to them. Oubre Jr. sat out Game 4’s win against the Boston Celtics that evened the series at 2, but he returns to the lineup in Wednesday’s pivotal Game 5 in Boston.
Oubre Jr. knows he’ll hear it from the TD Garden crowd after he sparked a scuffle after a hard foul by Kelly Olynyk in Game 3. After the boos that Kelly Olynyk got from Washington in Game 4, he knows he’ll get it good when he takes the floor on Wednesday night.
That’s OK, though. The boos sure to come from Celtics fans keep him going.
“It’s fun, man. In some weird way it lets me know that I’m alive. I’m here,” Oubre told CSN. “If a whole stadium full of people are chanting my name, that’s a blessing. I see what we did to Kelly Olynyk, so I’m not going to be surprised by anything.”
Oubre Jr.’s coach Scott Brooks advised his player and the media to “bring some ear plugs” when asked about the crowd before Game 5 on Wednesday, while teammate Markieff Morris was with Oubre Jr.: the boos mean you’re doing something right.
“Man, I feel like we all should bring ear plugs,” the Wizards forward said. “But if you ain’t booing then you ain’t doing something right, then. That’s how I look at it.”
No one on the Wizards expected to hear anything other than boos from Celtics fans, which is good given what Adam Jones experienced in Boston last week. That’s the last thing this series needs, it’s been exciting enough without any true controversy. He’ll probably get it at least as bad as Betsy DeVos got booed, though. He’ll probably handle it better than her, though.
