Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving has been hit with a fine for cursing at a fan during a game in Cleveland this week.
The NBA fined the guard $25,000 on Thursday for the incident during Monday night’s game, which the Nets lost 114-107 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Video posted on social media showed fans heckling Irving during the second quarter. “Kyrie, you need LeBron?” one fan yelled, referring to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
“Got y’all a championship and motherfuckers still ungrateful,” Irving can be heard responding.
Irving played alongside James in 2016, when they helped the Cavaliers win the NBA championship.
Irving has returned to the Nets after the team last month reversed its decision to ban him from playing with the team because of his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Irving still isn’t allowed to play home games or practice in New York City public venues due to city vaccine mandates. The home game ban is costing him about half of his $35 million salary.
Irving told reporters on Monday night that he won’t reconsider his vaccine refusal, even though a knee injury has sidelined teammate Kevin Durant.
“That’s my decision already, and I’m standing on it,” he said, according to The Associated Press. He added: “In terms of where I am with my life outside of this, I stay rooted in my decision and that’s just what it is. It’s not going to be swayed just because of one thing is this NBA life that somehow it’s brought to my attention to being more important than what’s going on in the real world.”
