WATCH: Kyrie receives deafening boos upon return to TD Garden for Finals

WATCH: Kyrie receives deafening boos upon return to TD Garden for Finals originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — Kyrie Irving is public enemy No. 1 at TD Garden for the 2024 NBA Finals.

The former Celtic, now facing his former Dallas Mavericks teammates, received thunderous boos as he entered the park for Game 1 on Thursday night. The Garden fans continued to boo Irving whenever he touched the ball in the first quarter.

Boston fans also gave Irving the first of several “Kyrie sucks!” corners at the end of the first quarter.

Irving played a two tumultuous seasons with Boston from 2017-19. The star point guard fell out of favor with C’s fans after promising to re-sign with the team when his contract expired, only to leave for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer.

Since then, Irving has been met with boos and expletive-laden chants each time he returns to TD Garden. Irving responded by stepping on the C logo at midcourt during the 2021 playoffs and showing the middle finger to Boston fans (twice) in the 2022 Celtics-Nets postseason series.

Before Game 1, Irving minimized hostility this has been playing at TD Garden.

“You just have to breathe. To all my young people who are dealing with some of the crowd reactions and what they’re saying to you, you have to take a breath and realize that this isn’t as hostile as you think it is. Don’t overthink it. ” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“I was able to work on this and understand that part of it is anxiety, part of it is nervousness and everything can be transformed into strength.”

Irving is making his fourth NBA Finals appearance. His previous three came alongside LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers.