On logo stomps, legacies, and divergent publics in Boston Celtics fandom

Why are there still such divergent views on the Celtics logo? Turns out, symbolism is a complicated subject.

Before Glen “Big Baby” Davis stirred the pot of the Kyrie Irving logo stomp, another voice in the wider Boston Celtics community weighed in, yet nearly escaped notice despite being related to the person who made the logo at the center of Davis’ controversial words.

That person of course would be Julie Auerbach Flieger, granddaughter of the legendary coach and team president behind most of Boston’s 17 titles — and the niece of Zang Auerbach, who created the logo in the 1950s. Auerbach Flieger responded to a recent post by Celtic great Cedric Maxwell asking why more people weren’t outraged by Irving’s end-of-game gesture, revealing it had been bothering her for some time.

“I’m so upset I haven’t even been able to post about it until now,” she began.