Getty Kyrie Irving.
When the Boston Celtics lost Kyrie Irving to the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019, there was plenty of uncertainty surrounding what Boston’s best course of action would be from there. Losing a talent like Irving would serve as a massive setback for any franchise. At least, that’s how it appeared then. Now, three years later, Boston has not only since made a conference finals appearance – something Irving has yet to do since then – but now the Celtics are in a prime position to eliminate the very team Irving left them for.
So the one question that remains in all of this is, were the Celtics better off without Kyrie all along? Celtics Insider Brian Robb of MassLive thinks so. In Robb’s own words, Irving’s departure’s opened the door to the Celtics’ development of their young talent, most namely Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart.
“The development of certain players on the Celtics’ roster likely has reached higher levels without Irving here in the past few seasons. Tatum and Brown have had to develop into better playmakers with those gains starting to show off more and more in recent months. Marcus Smart would have never been given the keys at point guard after a long wait to better serve as a facilitator for Tatum and Brown’s development.”
If Irving had stayed in Boston, there’s no telling if those three would have reached their potential the way they have since his exodus.
Robb Says Irving Would Have Limited Boston’s Defense
One of the primary reasons why the Celtics managed to land on their feet following the Kyrie fiasco is how phenomenal their defense has been, especially this season. The Celtics had the best defensive rating in the NBA this year, allowing 106.2 points per 100 possessions according to NBA.com. Because Boston’s rotation has very few holes to exploit defensively, Robb believes that such would not have been the case if Kyrie had stuck around.
“What Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka have built now defensively is as good as it is in part because a one-dimensional player like Irving isn’t involved. Boston’s starting five is full of good defenders with size who can switch with ease and that’s not a scheme that would have ever been able to be pulled off as effectively with Irving in the fold here.”
It’s no hidden secret that in the postseason, teams will take advantage of their opponent’s weakest link defensively as much as they can. Kyrie Irving is nowhere close to being among the league’s worst defenders, but if he was plugged into Boston’s current rotation, he’d be the guy who opponents would single out every time on the defensive side of the court. For that reason, Boston has to feel pretty fortunate they don’t have to worry about that.
Robb Cites Kyrie’s Lack of Self-Awareness for Putting Brooklyn Where They are
After the Nets lost Game 3 in Brooklyn, Irving made a lot of eyes roll when he said that he, “(did) not have a lot of answers for how you make up time from October until now when teams would usually be jelling and things would be feeling good.”
This quote can be pretty baffling since Kyrie could have made up all of that lost time by getting the COVID-19 vaccine beforehand but elected not to. Robb points out in his article that it was Kyrie’s choices then that ultimately drove Harden out of Brooklyn, and doing so has put Brooklyn in the position they’re in now.
“The drama Irving created around the team all year long thanks to his refusal to get a COVID vaccine helped blow up the core of the franchise that had been put together just one year ago when Brooklyn cashed in most of its chips on James Harden. Does anyone realistically believe that Harden would have been in a position to ask out midseason if Irving was vaccinated and available to play home games all year? Irving can pontificate all he wants about why the Nets have been unable to jell together as a team like Boston this postseason but the fact remains he’s the biggest reason why. The lack of self-awareness about that reality speaks volumes and help put Brooklyn in a standings hole that led to this tough first round matchup with Boston.”
It appears that if Kyrie Irving comes to your team, he’s running the show, warts and all. In Brooklyn’s case, it’s been mostly warts for them, and those are warts Boston has avoided altogether.