LeBron James Called Boston Celtics Fans ‘Racist as F**k’ Which Everyone in Boston Already Knew
Boston Celtics chants will get even worse next season when LeBron James shows up. James called Celtics fans racist in an interview on The Shop.
James was asked why he hated Boston fans. He simply answered: “Because they racist as f**k.”
He continued to say “they will say anything. And it’s fine. It’s my life, f**k I’ve been dealing with it my whole life. I don’t mind it. I hear it. If I hear somebody close by, I check them real quick, then move onto the game. They’re going to say whatever the f**k they want to say.”
James added “they might throw something at you. I mean, I got beer thrown on me leaving the game.”
James was referring to a 2012 game in Boston. It was game 6 of the 2012 finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. James was walking off the court towards the tunnel when suddenly a stream of beer drenched James. Luckily, there was a net to protect him against anything thrown at him. Which, how horrible are the fans that you need a net for protection?
Watch the 2012 video below where James gets pelted with beer:
Racist Boston sports fans aren’t anything new.
Athletes have talked about it forever, going back to Bill Russell in the late 1970s. In his biography, he called Boston a “flea market of racism.”
It had all varieties, old and new, and in their most virulent form. The city had corrupt, city hall-crony racists, brick-throwing, send-’em-back-to-Africa racists, and in the university areas phony radical-chic racists … Other than that, I liked the city.
Even if you PLAY for a Boston sports team, that doesn’t let you off Boston’s racist hook.
Former Boston Celtic Marcus Smart recounted how a good deed definitely didn’t go unpunished. After a game at TD Garden, Smart drove home and came upon a woman and her little son walking against the green light in the crosswalk. Smart said he honked his horn and yelled out the window “‘Excuse me, ma’am, you better get out of the street before you and your son get hit. Cars are coming. I don’t want you to get hit.’”
You know what happens next.
As soon as I said that, she looked at me – as she is wearing a No. 4, green with the white outline Celtics jersey – and told me, ‘F— you, you f—ing n—–.’ People that actually heard her were stunned. They’re like, ‘That’s Marcus Smart. You just got done watching the game, ma’am … with an Isaiah Thomas jersey on.’
Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said Fenway Park was the only place he’s been called the N-word. He said “when you go to Boston, expect it.”
Torii Hunter, ex-player for Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Detroit Tigers, insisted on a no-trade clause to the Boston Red Sox.
Why are Boston fans so racist?
Racism in Boston is so prevalent that the Boston Globe had to write “The Bigot in the Stands, and Other Stories” in 2017. Basically asking themselves, why am I so racist?? Their reasons came down to Boston’s passionate fans, lack of diversity in sports attendance and Boston’s racist past.
Even Boston’s own fans aren’t immune from other racist Boston fans. Redditors will tell you that some Boston fans don’t look at them as “real” Boston fans.
One Asian fan got told he wasn’t a “real fan”:
Asian C’s fan (and Boston sports fan in general) here. Born in Boston and raised in Lexington. The biggest and most frequent thing I get, from both Boston fans and non-Boston fans is this assumption that I can’t be a ‘real’ fan and that I’m some kind of a bandwagoner. I think the fact that our teams have been so successful plays a lot into it. Like people see me and go “Yeah he’s obviously some foreign dude who chooses to support Boston just because they win.”
Had a Celtics fan IN the Garden tell me I’m not a “real” fan and when I asked him to elaborate he just trailed off like “Come on man you know what I’m talking about” as if it were an obvious fact. Fact that I’m Asian?
Another Asian Boston fan got the “you’re not really from here” line:
Crazy, I’m also an Asian guy from Lexington. I used to get the same treatment. Years ago I got into an debate with a guy about the Sox and he cut me off with “You’re not from here, you don’t understand.” I told him I was born here (Waltham) and raised in Burlington and Lexington. He seemed a little taken aback (people used to assume I was from out of town and went to MIT or something) and then muttered “Well, you’re not from BOSTON” and then walked away.
One theory for Boston sports racism is that Boston’s white urban working class hasn’t been pushed out to the suburbs. Whereas if you look in America this doesn’t typically happen. Boston’s working class that remains within the city resent the media’s focus on “black issues.” In other words, they feel ignored.
Whatever the reasons, the question now for LeBron and Boston fans is: will they be less hateful of LeBron to prove they aren’t racists or double down because they now hate him even more after these comments.