The Patriots' 24-3 loss to the Rams Thursday night, which unofficially but not quite mathematically eliminated them from playoff contention, makes for a pretty depressing way for the Boston sports fan to go into the weekend.
Things could be worse, though. Imagine if you also woke up to this and still had to try to convince yourself that maybe Kyrie Irving could still actually work in Boston?
That came in response to the now-Brooklyn Net being fined $25,000 for refusing to talk to the media during training camp, something he says he will continue to do all season... and presumably continue to be fined for all season.
Now, we all understand that sports reporters aren't always the most beloved group of people. Irving will certainly have his fair share of fans who cheer him on for choosing them as his target.
And we're not taking issue with him wanting his fine money to go to good causes either. That's grand. Of course, he could just give that money to those causes directly and not have to get fined to do so, but alas.
Here are some points to consider, though:
Both are exactly right. Irving's problems with the media have been almost entirely self-inflicted. He's the one who earnestly said the world is flat. He's the one who said he planned to re-sign the Celtics and then refused to answer questions about it when the season wasn't going well. He's the one who threw his young Celtics teammates, not to mention coach Brad Stevens, under the bus at various points during his time in Boston.
He's the one who anointed himself a basketball "genius." He's the one who said this offseason that the Nets don't really have a head coach (good luck, Steve Nash!). He's the one who recently said Kevin Durant is the first player he's played with who can hit a big shot like him, skipping right over the fact that he played three seasons with the second-best player in NBA history. And now he's the one calling reporters "Pawns," which is just about as condescending and elitist as it gets.
He said all those things. No one forced him to. You can't say the things he says and then get mad that the media reports it, talks about it or questions you about it. That's how it works. If you didn't say dumb stuff or contradict yourself or pass the buck, it wouldn't happen.
Which brings us to the second point: Irving's media ban is just another instance of passing the buck. He says he's a leader, he considers the Nets to be "his" team, but now he's going to force his teammates to answer any and all tough questions instead of stepping up to the plate himself?
Now every time Irving puts out a foolish statement like this, his teammates are the ones who will be asked about it, not him. If the Nets are struggling, his teammates will have to answer for it, not him. If at any point there appears to be any sort of falling out between Irving and Durant or Irving and Nash or Irving and his teammates, he's apparently just going to let speculation run rampant instead of answering any questions or taking any responsibility.
That's not leadership. You can't be a leader without being accountable. You're not a leader when you make life more difficult for your teammates, not easier.
Irving may still be a great basketball player. We'll see how he looks as he returns from a shoulder injury and plays with Durant for the first time. But he clearly still hasn't matured when it comes to being a team leader.
The Celtics' current team leadership may not be perfect yet either. We know there was the reported locker room spat during the Eastern Conference finals. We'll see how young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown continue to grow into leadership roles. We'll see if veterans Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague help in that respect.
But at least the Celtics' world no longer revolves around Irving... or whatever it is flat planets do.