Kyrie Irving matched a season-high with 40 points in Thursday night’s win over Boston, demoralizing his former team by sinking 15-of-23 field-goal attempts including 5-of-8 from long range. Irving, whose turbulent Celtics tenure was largely overshadowed by his combative attitude toward the media and polarizing leadership qualities, went out of his way to embrace his former teammates Thursday night, sharing post-game pleasantries with Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Tristan Thompson, among others.
There was never a question of Irving’s talent—the 28-year-old is a magnificent ball-handler and one of the league’s best finishers. But his outspoken nature can often rub teammates and coaches the wrong way, as it did throughout his exhausting two-year stint in Beantown. When Irving predictably skipped town in free agency two years ago, most Celtics fans were happy to see him go, a pretty damning indictment of a player most would identity as a Hall-of-Fame caliber talent.
Given his complicated relationship with the Celtics, many found Kyrie’s seemingly genial exchanges with Tatum, Kemba Walker and others eye-opening, prompting this question from Newsday’s Greg Logan during Thursday night’s Zoom with local media members.
“Big surprise, huh?” Irving responded. “All that s*** talking about me and all the relationships I have with every teammate of mine.”
Logan followed up with a question about whether Thursday’s win meant more given that it came against Boston. “It’s my former team, obviously,” expressed Irving. “Games like this in the middle of the season where you go against guys that you know well, it’s always a blessing. I’m always happy for those guys. I want to see them do well. When we’re playing against each other, we’re just going to leave it out there on the floor, and that’s just where it stands. We have that respect. But, of course, are relationships go way further off the court.”
Certainly, Irving didn’t leave Boston on the greatest terms, but if there’s any beef to be had from Kyrie’s perspective, it’s toward the media for portraying him as a difficult-to-work-with malcontent and toxic locker-room presence. And if you’re worried Irving might be getting a little too chummy with his former teammates, don’t be. While purists probably hate it, “super teams” have irreversibly changed the league’s dynamic, rendering rivalries between individual players more or less extinct.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram