Kelly Oubre Jr. is not a popular man in Boston. After the Wizards’ forward was ejected from Game Three against the Celtics last Thursday for knocking over Boston’s Kelly Olynyk following an Olynyk foul, and then suspended for Game Four (which he said he deserved), many were keeping an eye on what reception he’d get in his return to Boston in Game Five Wednesday. Well, the crowd was chanting his name mockingly even before he touched the ball:
Oubre hasn't touched the ball yet, but Garden crowd already taunting his name pic.twitter.com/wlddrB3p1u
— Eric Moskowitz (@ELMoskowitz) May 11, 2017
He then got booed at the free-throw line:
Kelly Oubre getting booed at the free-throw line. Nothing major could've been worst considering this is Boston pic.twitter.com/QMqtakg4MO
— Joshua Alfonzo Vinson (@TheJoshAVinson) May 11, 2017
And things really escalated in the second half, with very prominent “F**k you, Oubre” chants:
https://twitter.com/HoopDistrictDC/status/862484143829118976
That’s not entirely surprising, given the way tensions have developed in this series and given how Oubre’s actions particularly escalated them. And Oubre said before the game he was used to abuse from his days at Kansas playing against Kansas State:
Oubre on the worst place he heard boos in the Big 12.
"Kansas State is the worst. They’ve got a whole student section that hates your guts"
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) May 10, 2017
But still, this is pretty strong. It didn’t seem to get Oubre too off his game (he had 13 points in 19 minutes), but his team didn’t have a great night, losing 123-101 to the Celtics. They’re now down 3-2 in the series. At least when they go home for Game Six Friday, Oubre probably won’t have to deal with taunts there.
