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This morning, Celtics players were required to engage in an exit interview at the practice center. Players have the option of meeting with the media after, a gesture that many accept as a nice gesture and sendoff to local media who’ve been covering the team all season. Directly after the exit interview, the man whose answers were craved the most up and left.
After a pretentious Game 5 post-game interview to cap off a season I believe to be the most frustrating since the 15-win season of ’96-’97, every itch Celtics fans needed scratched has been ignored by the aloof point guard. He doesn’t give a shit, and it’s more evident now than ever.
Backup point guard Terry Rozier, whose role with the team has been severely limited in Kyrie’s return, directed some thinly-veiled criticism about the attitudes and selfishness of unnamed players (take a guess!) that derailed a Celtics season bursting with promise.
On Thursday, fan favorite Marcus Smart was asked by reporters if Irving’s lack of leadership capabilities is what stunted the growth of a team that was one win short of making the NBA Finals last season. He stuck up for Kyrie, even though Kyrie wouldn’t do the same for him.
Marcus Smart on the notion that Kyrie Irving’s leadership ruined the Celtics: “Bullshit. That’s bullshit.” pic.twitter.com/xWPKIxp2Bw
— Nicole Yang (@nicolecyang) May 9, 2019
“That’s bullshit. Not one of us on this team knows what Kyrie been through. … It was hard for him as well. He was forced into a situation where it was business over friendships.”
“He didn’t want to disrupt that. That’ says a lot. This is Kyrie Irving we’re talking about and he’s talking about coming in and disrupting us. We took him in with full arms. We tried to understand him. We never really understood. We’re not in his shoes…
“That’s just a bullshit statement to say his leadership killed us.” [via Kyle Hightower, Associated Press]
This Celtics offseason is going to be a wild ride. Buckle up.