Kyrie Irving is out to prove that he is a legitimate NBA superstar, and he’s going to have the best season of his career.
The Boston Celtics gave up a lot for Kyrie Irving, and his play in the upcoming season will give Danny Ainge an idea of the return on his investment.
The Celtics have overhauled nearly their entire roster from a season ago, despite the fact that they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Al Horford is the only remaining starter, and Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier will play larger roles in the rotation.
They replaced Amir Johnson with Marcus Morris at the power forward position, who can take opposing bigs off the dribble or spot up from beyond the arc.
Avery Bradley‘s departure to the Detroit Pistons will leave a void at 2-guard, even if Marcus Smart improves his game. Bradley was by far the best defender on the team, and he covered the defensive deficiencies of his teammates.
Jae Crowder was one of the leaders in the Celtics’ locker room, but Gordon Hayward is a massive upgrade out on the wing. You need stars to win in the NBA, and at 21.9 points a game, Hayward is All-Star material.
Finally, the Celtics replaced Isaiah Thomas with Kyrie Irving. Last year, Thomas had one of the best seasons in the Celtics’ storied history, but Irving is an upgrade on both sides of the floor.
Irving and Thomas’ stats are fairly even, but Irving put up his numbers while playing second fiddle to LeBron James. Irving is also an upgrade on defense, albeit a small one. Even more importantly, Irving is the younger and healthier player, who is still adding tools to his arsenal.
Irving’s request to vacate Cleveland was met with a lot of criticism, and that’s why he is going to play with a massive chip on his shoulder next season.
Kyrie Irving will silence all of the critics next season
Kyrie Irving was done playing in Cleveland, and he went about it in the most professional way possible. He notified the Cavaliers front office of his trade request, threw in a few desired franchises and went on about his way.
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Of course, someone with the inside information leaked Irving’s desire to leave to the media. It was reported that Kyrie wanted to leave Cleveland so that he could escape LeBron’s looming shadow. Then, reports surfaced that Irving didn’t talk to his teammates for a period during the playoffs. The narrative of the media seemed to make Kyrie Irving into the bad guy and LeBron James the good guy.
We’ve romanticized the notion that LeBron James is the opposite of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. That LeBron isn’t as demanding on his teammates, that he’s easier to get along with and that he won’t shoot every shot. So how could Kyrie Irving want to leave LeBron, who is universally recognized as the best player in the world?
Kyrie wasn’t focused on what was best for his image, but instead what was best for his career. He wanted to join a different, more team-oriented culture. So while we were telling him that he should just accept his lot in his basketball life, his mind was set toward a brighter future. A future where he could be the man on his own team and display the full array of his skills.
This situation is eerily similar to Kyrie’s mentor, Kobe Bryant. After Shaquille O’Neal was traded to Miami, many well-meaning critics said that Kobe couldn’t lead a team to a championship. That it was mostly Shaq’s greatness that brought three rings to L.A. But Kobe silenced those narratives with back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
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Kyrie’s mentality and play style is much more similar to Kobe Bryant than LeBron James. He’s looking to score every time he gets the ball, and he wants the big shots at the end of regulation. Next season, he will look to silence his critics just as Kobe did nearly a decade ago. And if he’s learned anything from the Black Mamba, it’s that when a vicious predator is cornered – it strikes.