Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving wants fans to know something.

While at a Thanksgiving meal with 15 families from Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF), a Celtics staffer asked Irving to describe what it’s like to have a platform like his. Irving spoke effusively about his daily approach and told the 75 attendees that he is aware of their existences on a spiritual level.

“I see you,” he said. “I see everyone. More than just your physical presence, I see your energy. I feel it. I know it.”

Irving, who recently gave his game-worn jersey and shoes to two unexpecting servicewomen at the Celtics-Nets game, said those gestures are reflective of something larger than just player memorabilia.


“It’s not about the shoes, it’s not about the jerseys, it’s about seeing that energy and that moment and time and capturing it with individuals,” he explained. “And that lasts a lifetime. They can have the shoes, they can have the jersey, they can have everything I’m wearing. I don’t care about any of that. I just want them to know someone out there in ‘my position,’ as they like to say, I’m just another human being that cares. That’s it.”

The 25-year-old All-Star said his actions are illustrations of the omnipresent “truth” that dictates his life.

“I think that the most important thing that I strive to live by is extremely by truth and by consistently giving others the truth, without any judgement, without constraints, without anything extra except the understanding that I see you,” he said. “I have family members who come from knowing energy, and it was passed along to me.”

Irving shared that while he has known his calling since he was a kid, he is “just now walking in those steps, comfortably, pridefully.”

“I don’t question it any more,” he said. “I’m walking those steps. I know the higher power, whatever you want to call him, everybody has a different vision. But I know that I’m walking those steps for a specific reason. It’s a lot bigger than me. It’s a lot bigger than all of us.”


Despite referencing it as a “cliche saying,” Irving said he truly believes it’s important to “do for others as you would for yourself.

“I swear to you, when you have an abundance of love that you can give to the world, it comes right back,” Irving said. “I live by that every single day, every single moment. And that’s why I know I have the people around me, the people that I’ve met, and that’s why I’m with the Boston Celtics. It’s more than basketball. It’s just about the beautiful life that we have.”

“I’m so appreciative of where I come from and the people I consistently meet,” he continued. “I know when you live in that consistent truth, you end up meeting people, and the people that I consistently meet are there for a reason.”