Irving Signs with the Brooklyn Nets in Free Agency

On July 7, 2019 Kyrie Irving became a free-agent signee of the Brooklyn Nets, agreeing to terms that ended his tenure with the Boston Celtics (2017–2019) and moved him to Brooklyn [2]. The signing was widely reported and immediately recontextualized in Boston coverage because of an October 4, 2018 comment Irving made at TD Garden in which he told fans, "If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here" [8]. Local commentators and former Celtics framed the July 2019 move as a reversal of that public promise, which intensified fan disappointment and made Irving's future returns to TD Garden more charged [4]. The decision to sign with Brooklyn was a standard free-agency move in basketball terms, but because of the prior public remark the choice took on an emotional valence in Boston media and fan discourse: outlets flagged the contrast between the 2018 statement and the 2019 signing and treated it as the proximate cause of subsequent boos and negative receptions [2][4]. The signing received national coverage as a notable free-agency result and local coverage that focused on fan reaction and commentary from ex-players [2][4].

Irving's July 7, 2019 signing with the Nets is the date most sources and fans point to as the start of the active adversarial dynamic, because it created a clear before/after comparison with his Oct. 4, 2018 remark and gave fans a concrete reason to feel betrayed [2][8]. The move turned a single quoted promise into a recurring grievance that governed how fans, media, and former players interpreted Irving's behavior in Boston for years afterward [2][4].

Following the signing, Boston media and former Celtics publicly prepared for and encouraged negative receptions when Irving returned to TD Garden, most notably with commentary in late 2019 that predicted loud boos and hostile fan behavior [4]. The signing set the context for the November 2019 return, the December 2020 smudging coverage, and the symbolic on-court incidents in 2021 and 2022; each later incident was often framed through the lens of the 2019 departure [3][2][1].