NEW YORK - After the Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden Friday night, Celtics star Kyrie Irving delayed his walk-off interview to make sure his father Drederick could come down to the court and receive Irving's black No. 11 game jersey.
The symbolism of the moment was inescapable. Just a few short months ago Irving both declared he was going to re-sign with the Celtics this summer and filmed a commercial with his father in which he professed his hope that same No. 11 would be hanging from the rafters a couple hundred miles northeast at TD Garden someday.