Kyrie Irving Seems To Think The Bucks And Celtics Are Playing On A Really Old Court

Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics are, understandably, very concerned about player safety following the severe ankle injury suffered by Gordon Hayward in their opener. Hayward’s absence, along with Marcus Smart’s ankle issues, have left them shorthanded on the wing and simply trying to keep themselves in the race for a quality seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

On Thursday night, the Celtics will play the Bucks in the “Return to the MECCA” game, where the Bucks will wear throwbacks and the game will be played next door to the Bucks current arena in the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, where the team played its inaugural season 50 years ago.

Not only will the Bucks rock throwback uniforms, but they have a specially made throwback court for the occasion that looks fantastic.

While the Bucks are very excited about it, not everyone is thrilled about the retro court, as Kyrie Irving voiced his concerns on Thursday after shootaround and seemed to think the court was the actual MECCA court from way back in the day, noting how he knows it’s old and it has a fresh paint job.

“I’m all about safety, so we’ll see how it is on my knees and see how it is on everyone’s bodies,” Irving said. “I know that this is a pretty older court, it looks like it’s freshly painted as well. I’m just going to do my assessment and go from there.

“It took me three steps to realize this is not the same NBA court I’m used to playing on. We’ll see what’s up.”

The court is not old. In fact, it’s brand new, and as Darren Rovell pointed out, it was made by one of the league’s approved court makers for this special event.

The Bucks made sure to point that out on Twitter after Irving’s comments.

No one else has voiced concerns about the court beyond Kyrie, with the Bucks players (unsurprisingly) lavishing it with praise. That said, it could actually have a bit of a different feel to it. It’s also possible it’s a mental thing and he really does believe it feels it’s different, as they’re playing in a non-NBA arena on a different looking court than normal. Irving’s concerns about playing on a decades old court will hopefully be put to rest prior to tipoff and, more importantly, the game will hopefully go off without any incident that could spark any controversy about it being played on a different (even if brand new) court.