By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Kevin Durant wasn’t really surprised to see Kyrie Irving burning sage before the preseason game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics in the Garden.
“That’s his thing. Kyrie probably sages his room before he plays 2k at home,” Durant said after the Nets’ 113 – 96 win.
Irving agreed. Sort of. “It’s not anything that I don’t do at home, what I did today,” he commented.
The video of Irving appearing to wave some burning sage in in the area around the floor of his former home arena in his first visit after he left the Celtics was reproduced by several media outlets and went quite viral. The former All-Star guard described this sort of ritual as a “cleansing” procedure.
“It just comes from a lot of native tribes,” Irving later said. “Just cleanse the energy, want to make sure that we’re all balanced. He plans to repeat that in every game this season not only to help the team but also to pay tribute to his Native American heritage.
“I saged last game and I plan to sage every game if the opposing team allows me to,” he added. “It’s more or less for us to stay connected and for us to feel great going to work and feeling safe. Providing for my ancestors. I’m not going to bring much spirituality to basketball but it’s part of my native culture and where I’m from.”