Kyrie Irving certainly made an impact in his weekend in Boston (File Photo)

By BUNKY McCOY

• Basketball diva? No question, Kyrie Irving fits the profile.

• For only Irving can pull the puppet strings in a way where he deflects the attention away from
his first game back in Boston since leaving the Celtics and – through his choice of words – sends
everyone down a rabbit hole that might as well have been covered in Crisco.

• Bottom line? Irving didn’t care for his time in Boston. Celtics fans view him as a quitter. You
don’t have to be Red on Roundball to know that there’s no hope for this tangled web.

• Did you see the person arrested for throwing a Dasani bottle at Irving following Sunday’s
Game 4 at the Garden was wearing a Kevin Garnett jersey? Seems he’s a student at URI. Kinda like a big night out at The Willows.

• He might not be taking the court these days, but the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown is still making an
impact. He’s someone who gets it – the anti-Irving if you will.

• Hunter Biden’s laptop is the gift that keeps on giving. Per the New York Post, one of Biden’s
associates emailed Gina Raimondo in 2011 to set up a meeting – back when Gina was Rhode
Island’s treasurer.

• Talk about laying the groundwork as Raimondo was tapped by President Biden for the top job
in Commerce. Maybe Gina has Hunter to thank for the job upgrade after holding the rank of
R.I.’s governor.

• Anyone else in Red Sox Nation concerned about supposed ace Eduardo Rodriguez? His ERA is
up 5.64 after the lefty got shelled by the Astros on Monday. That sure doesn’t sound like “Let’s
give him the ball in Game 1 of the playoff series” material.

• Naomi Osaka will not play in this year’s French Open. The reason? The world’s No. 2 player in
women’s tennis withdrew from the tournament after being fined for skipping media
obligations.

• Per her social media account, Osaka said she doesn’t want her withdrawal to be a distraction.
That horse left the barn a long time ago, Bunky.

• Speaking of those with a clear-cut disdain for the fourth estate, wonder if the Hoodie of
Foxboro is thinking of following Osaka’s lead.

• The Red Sox sent Franchy Cordero and his .179 batting average to Triple-A. Andrew
Benintendi – one of the players the Sox sent away to acquire Cordero – is hitting .288 with the Royals. Paraphrasing longtime Boston TV sports personality Bob Lobel, `How come we can’t get players like that?’

• The Rhode Island House of Representatives are returning to the Statehouse while R.I. Senate
plans to ride out the COVID-19 wave at Rhode Island College. It’s not the first time these two
groups have resided on opposite sides of the spectrum. See the PawSox ballpark issue of 2017-
18.

• You want a championship drought? The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup
since 1968.

• Anyone check on Jordan Spieth? He went from owning a one-stroke lead heading into the
final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge to falling apart over the back nine of Sunday’s final
round. Spieth probably wanted to bury his head in the closest bunker after his approach from
the rough at No. 18 flew over the green and into the water.

• I don’t know how they keep doing it, but the low-budget Tampa Bay Rays continue to win
ballgames and plenty of them. As of this writing, the Rays own the best record in the American
League.

• This coming weekend marks the first time this season the Red Sox square off against the
Yankees.

• Chills. That’s what I was feeling as I watched North Providence native A.J. Quetta serve as the
Banner Captain before Game 1 of the Bruins-Islanders series.

• There’s only one person I can think of who can pull off the suit worn by Bruins scoring star
David Pastrnak as he strode into the Garden before Saturday’s playoff game. That person?
None other than former Dighton-Rehoboth basketball star and Nelligan Sports tycoon John
Egan – a man who owns the type of suits that require wearing sunglasses when you happen to
be in his company.

• Ahh, New England. Where you can run the air conditioner and heater in the same week.