Fan charged with assault and battery after throwing water bottle at Kyrie Irving

A Celtics fan who threw a water bottle at Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving has been arrested on charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

Speaking to USA Today, Boston Police sergeant detective John Boyle the suspect, Cole Buckley from Braintree, Massachusetts, was arrested Sunday.

Buckley will be arraigned Tuesday in Boston Municipal Court. Buckley, 21, has also been banned from the TD Garden arena for life.

Water bottle nearly hits Kyrie Irving as he walks to the locker room following Game 4 in Boston. pic.twitter.com/RrtZth3cqt

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 31, 2021

Irving, who is Black, said after the incident, “I’ve been in some hostile environments where a lot of things have been said to me, a lot of things have been done to my teammates or I’ve experienced some type of subtle racism that I’m referring to, you know, where it’s just underlying throughout the game.”

“Like I said, I joined this sport because I loved it and inevitably, you know, you’re going to have opposing fans do things that are gonna help their team win. They love being involved,” Irving added. “I don’t want to take away that nature. It’s just when you feel disrespected as a person — man or woman — and someone calls you out or does something like that, it doesn’t make you feel good.”

KD & Kyrie discussing the latest unacceptable fan incident.

“Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players, spitting on players or tossing popcorn. So grow the f*** up & enjoy the game. It’s bigger than you.”pic.twitter.com/ujWs34BEah

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) May 31, 2021