On Friday night, Kyrie Irving visited the stomping grounds of his former team, the Boston Celtics, for the first time since the Brooklyn Nets traded him away to the Dallas Mavericks last year. Irving's Mavericks debut at TD Garden, however, did not go according to plan. Not only did the Mavs get blown out, 138-110, Irving was also on the receiving end of some angry jeers from the TD Garden faithful, with the Celtics fanbase breaking into a spirited “Kyrie sucks” chant within the final four minutes of the contest.

There is plenty of history between Irving and the Celtics; the Mavericks star even displayed a bit of disrespect towards his old team, as much as he would dispute that his stomp on the center court logo meant nothing. Nonetheless, this time, Irving took the high road. Even after hearing that hurtful chant from the TD Garden crowd, Irving tweeted out a composed reaction that shows he is not fazed by the vitriol he faces on a regular basis.

“Thank you for everything GOD. I gotta stay poised and accept all the tests on this journey. The wins, the losses, and the emotional moments, are lessons to grow from. No matter what, I gotta keep persevering through the Hate, the next generation is watching close. Hélà 🤞🏾,” Irving wrote on his official Twitter (X) account.

Kyrie Irving hasn't exactly been scot-free in his use of social media, as an errant tweet was what got him in trouble to begin the 2022-23 season with the Nets, so to see the Mavericks star express nothing but positivity in the face of adversity is a welcome sight.

As polarizing as Irving may be due to his history of questionable off-court actions and decisions, what Mavericks fans will admire about the 31-year old guard is that he is unabashedly himself even in the face of criticism. Being yelled at that you suck at your place of work by thousands isn't for the faint of heart, and Irving is showing admirable fortitude after the Celtics fans let him have it.

What would sting for Kyrie Irving, however, is that the Mavericks lost and that they lost convincingly. They will now be looking forward to getting back to winning ways when they take on the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday at 1 PM E.T.