NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 11: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets dribbles against Kemba Walker ... [+]
Getty ImagesBoston Celtics’ fans still haven’t gotten their chance to boo Kyrie Irving.
Eventually, once this awful pandemic is over, they will.
Getting over Irving’s departure hasn’t been quite as easy as expected.
Kemba Walker was supposed to make everyone forget about No. 11. But on Thursday night, it was Irving outscoring his Boston counterpart 40-11 in the Brooklyn Nets’ 121-109 victory over the Celtics at Barclays Center.
Irving had 14 points in the third, and eight more in the fourth — even sticking the dagger with a couple late 3-pointers from way behind the stripe.
As if saging TD Garden and then dropping 37 points in a blowout win on Dec. 22 against the C’s wasn’t enough already. After this one was over, Irving went and hugged many of his former teammates. Walker, too. No hate. All love.
“Big surprise to a lot of people,” Irving told reporters. “All that (expletive)-talking about me and all the relationships I have with every teammate of mine. I’m glad we get to see it every single game that I’ve got some great people out here.”
Even Boston owner Wes Grousbeck had made headlines recently about the impact of Irving’s departure. And by proxy, his comments weren’t exactly a ringing endorsement of Walker, who ended up with a four-year, $141 million deal — big bucks the Celtics had originally earmarked for Irving.
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“We had hoped Kyrie would stay forever and lead us all the way,” Grousbeck said. “He’s on maybe the best team in the league right now, and so that’s that. That change touched off a lot of stuff because he left, we weren’t able to maybe recruit free agents in the same way and had a bit of a domino effect. But it is what it is. We went for it with Kyrie. We had a good year with him. He tried hard and then he moved on.”
Walker — the Bronx native who hit a pretty big shot across the East River in the World’s Most Famous Arena a decade ago — had been playing better of late (23.3 points in his previous four games before the All-Star break), looking healthier and more productive. The Celtics have been much better for it, with someone else besides young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown able to carry the load.
But Walker was thoroughly outplayed by Irving, and Boston GM Danny Ainge has his work cut out for him. Al Horford, Gordon Hayward and Irving all left. And as currently constituted, the Celtics probably don’t have enough to get out of the Eastern Conference. The Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce trade was still a massive home run for the franchise, but now Ainge has to figure out how to augment his roster with fewer assets than he once possessed.
The Nets, on the other hand, still have reinforcements on the way in Kevin Durant (hamstring) and Blake Griffin (getting back in game shape). The latest update on Durant — that he’s going to have another scan next week to see how he’s progressing — wasn’t exactly encouraging. After all, the team had initially said he’d miss at least two games — not at least 12.
Still, hamstrings are tricky, and it’s much easier to deal with a botched injury timetable as a fan when your team has gone a sizzling 11-1 after a very mediocre 14-12 start. On Thursday night, Irving got help from James Harden (22 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) and Landry Shamet (18 points, 6-for-9 from 3-point range). The superstars in the backcourt shined, and the bench stepped up, with Steve Nash’s team turning it on after a rusty start.
The buyout market could still yield even more for Brooklyn — Andre Drummond, PJ Tucker and JJ Redick perhaps still all in play. With KD serving as their lead recruiter, the Nets will be in every conversation for those chasing a ring.
The Walker for Irving swap was supposed to be much easier to swallow for Boston. Irving wanted a change — and with all the optimism emanating from Brooklyn prior to free agency, No. 11’s next destination seemingly a fait accompli — it wasn’t exactly a shock when he left. Whatever. Walker would provide similar production with less headaches. Then last season happened. Irving played 20 games. There was drama. There were injuries. Walker was an All-Star. Good riddance.
The 2020-21 campaign, however, has been a different story. Walker was slow out of the gate coming back from a knee procedure. Meanwhile, Irving has mostly starred when on the floor. Granted, there was his two-week absence for personal reasons. Still, with Durant and Harden, the Nets have seemingly put together an optimal situation, where they benefit from Irving’s immense talents but also have a superstar safety net of sorts in case something happens. Harden and Irving have carried the load with Durant out. And on Thursday night, Irving’s immense talents were on full display.
Celtics’ fans will eventually get their chance to boo Kyrie Irving. They just hope he doesn’t have two rings by then.
The Link LonkMarch 12, 2021 at 11:00PM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemazzeo/2021/03/12/boston-celtics-fans-want-to-forget-about-kyrie-irving-but-brooklyn-nets-star-isnt-making-that-easy/
Boston Celtics’ Fans Want To Forget About Kyrie Irving, But Brooklyn Nets’ Star Isn’t Making That Easy - Forbes
https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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