With a roster that included the trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker, the Boston Celtics were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals.
Million Dollar Question: Was their season a success or a failure?
“I still look at their season as successful,” CBS Sports and YES Network analyst, Ian Eagle told me on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“I know we live in a world where it’s ‘championship or bust’ but, with Kemba Walker in his first year, with [Jayson] Tatum, with [Jaylen] Brown developing; with extenuating circumstances of the bubble not knowing how guys are going to react and handle that, with the [Gordon] Hayward injury; they ended up where I thought they were gonna be. That’s pretty much how I saw them this season as a conference semi-finalist. Now we found out more about Miami how tough they are, how well coached they are; how exceptional a player Jimmy Butler is… so maybe we need to flip the perspective and give credit where credit is due with the Miami Heat and not automatically lay blame that the Celtics just came up short or didn’t live up to expectations. I still think that they have a very bright future. I like their pieces a lot.”
Ian Eagle broadcasts Brooklyn Nets games and discusseed criticism current Nets point guard, Kyrie Irving receives from folks with alliances to the Boston Celtics.
“I know a lot has been made regarding Kyrie and whatever happened there, and that’s part of the – there’s the narrative that I was talking about earlier,” he told Heavy Live With Scoop B.
“I can’t tell you how many people reached out to me from the New England area after the Nets acquired Kyrie and the reaction was always, “You watch…you’ll see.” like, a lot of that. So, there was bad blood there however that went down. Again, this is just me and my life; and not in just my professional life, but my regular life – I try to judge things based on my own experiences and through the prism of my experiences and I think there’s still a lot hurt there for whatever reason. And look, I get it. You know, it doesn’t always end well. Often, it doesn’t ever end well. It’s a rarity where somebody leaves a team and everybody’s on great terms. There’s always sore feelings. This one though, really did seem to hang over for a while and it’s still there. It’s still gonna be there between the Celtics and the Nets. But if you’re asking me strictly about Boston and their future, I still believe that they have a window here where they can be a serious factor in the NBA. I like their team, there’s still some places they need to improve no doubt about that; they’ve tried to address those – that one spot: the 5-spot. That’s an area – how are they gonna play? What’s their style? Are they looking traditional or are they going to change it up a bit and look to maybe getting a little smaller and a little more athletic in that position? That remains to be seen.”
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CBS Analyst Reveals Why Kyrie Irving’s Still Bashed by Celtics Fans [LOOK]