Kyrgios talks Celtics fandom: 'Garnett is like my spirit animal'
Being on the ATP tour makes for a frantic lifestyle for anyone, but for world No. 20 Nick Kyrgios - a professed diehard Boston Celtics fan - it's a different beast.
"When you're a basketball fan living abroad, sleep is a real challenge, especially during the playoffs," Kyrgios wrote in a Players' Tribune column published Tuesday.
"This is my life on tour as a Celtics fan. WiFi is a legit top-five priority in my life. You haven't lived until you've tried to stream an NBA playoff game on your phone in China."
Kyrgios traces his Celtics fandom back to his preteen years in Australia in the mid-aughts, playing NBA Live on a PlayStation Portable while traveling around the country for tennis events. He latched onto the Celtics because "the logo looked cool" and because Paul Pierce "had an unreal jumper."
The 21-year-old has ridden with the franchise through thick and thin ever since, though he admits to never seeing a game at TD Garden or even going to Boston.
Kyrgios' fandom was consolidated in the summer of 2007, when the Celtics traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett - the latter of whom he profoundly reveres.
"That might have been the happiest day of my life," Kyrgios writes. "Garnett is like my spirit animal. He's my favorite player ever. Every guy wants him on their team, but nobody wants to face him. He's so intense. The way he approaches the game is unreal.
"As a tennis player, there's a lot I've learned from how insanely competitive KG is - even now, when he's 39 years old, he's still a maniac. He might offend some people, but at the end of the day sport is about winning or losing. Everything KG does, he does to help his team win."
Kyrgios has courted no shortage of controversy in his young tennis career, so it's no surprise he'd see a kindred spirit in Garnett, and the fact he "might offend some people."
Though Garnett is now wrapping up his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kyrgios has found a new magnetic Celtics player to gravitate toward in 5-foot-9 point guard Isaiah Thomas.
"I love Isaiah," Kyrgios writes. "When he's hot and he starts pulling up from everywhere, there's no player I love watching more in the NBA. The dude is like the new Iverson. I might even have to start repping the green headband on the court like Isaiah."