As the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams has been vocal about the sports teams playing under his jurisdiction, whether it was on Kyrie Irving during the COVID-19 pandemic or now on the Knicks' eccentric playoff run. After the Celtics beat the Knicks 127-102 in Game 5 of their series, Adams took to social media to express his take on the game.
Ofcourse, as a Knicks fan, he was unhappy about the upset and wrote, "BUCK FOSTON" on X, a clever anagram of 'F**k Boston', directed as a dig on the Celtics for beating them.
While Derrick White and Jaylen Brown took the scoring burden with 34 and 26 points, respectively, Payton Pritchard's spark from the bench arguably made the difference for Boston. Meanwhile, Josh Hart, who usually focuses on the defensive duties on the floor, led all scorers for the Knicks with 24 points. Hart, who averaged 13.6 points per game through the regular season, had to step up on a night where OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges struggled to contribute anything on offense.
Moreover, Jalen Brunson shot 25% from beyond the arc (1 of 4), and Karl-Anthony Towns, who is a career 40% shooter from three-point range, only made 2 of 13 from three-point range for the entire series. This seems like a big drawback in the Knicks' offensive plans. No wonder Mayor Adams was unhappy; while everything went right for the Celtics in this game, everything went the other way for the Knicks.
Fortunate for the Knicks, they have two more opportunities to close this series out. They would prefer to get the job done in Game 6 itself, as it would be a home game for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Kyrie Irving Holds Mayor Adams Responsible For His Issues With The Nets
In February 2024, Kyrie Irving returned to Brooklyn for the first time since getting traded from the Nets. The controversial hooper dropped 36 points in a statement return to New York. When a fan heckled Irving during the game, he did not hesitate to respond. The fan asked him why he didn't play this well in Brooklyn, to which he responded, "Thank Mayor Adams for that".
The Mavericks star, during his time with the Nets, was forced to sit out 35 home games, which became a contributing factor in his trade demand. Even after the city allowed professional athletes to play in games without being vaccinated, Adams reminded Irving that the gravity of the danger involved with COVID-19 hadn't changed at the time. “Kyrie … get vaccinated. Nothing has changed," he said.
