Not to say that it came as a surprise to anyone but if you didn’t already know, recently departed Kyrie Irving — who left the Boston Celtics after proclaiming his desire to re-sign with the team prior to the season — won’t be suiting up for the Nets when they travel to Boston to face a team now led by Kemba Walker.
Actually, Irving won’t even be traveling with the team, so Celtics fans wouldn’t even be able to berate him with the boos they’ve kept welled up inside since his decision to team up with injured All-Star Kevin Durant in Brooklyn.
That’s good for Irving and it takes away what would have been a distraction from the actual game but still, there’s no doubt that fans worldwide — whether they’re fans of Boston’s illustrious franchise or not — wanted to see Irving return to the arena housing a locker room full of players that he seemed to rub the wrong way with an abrasive and detached attitude last season.
Just as he had rubbed the Celtics fans the wrong way with his fickleness and paltry performance in the postseason and how he rubbed the Celtics media wrong with his combativeness during pressers.
If anyone was bothered by Irving’s antics last season, it was Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown, who has inexplicably thrived in the All-Star guards absence. As they’ve added another All-Star to replace him, Gordon Hayward has resembled his All-Star self and they’ve added a score-first guard to replace balanced backup Terry Rozier, it goes against logic that Brown could have more opportunity and a greater impact this season but he has.
Part of it is simply Brown improving as a ball-handled and the game slowing down for him, making him more effective as a slasher. However, he’s playing more free and confident than he was last year, which is in part due to there being a question of how to mesh Irving and Hayward’s return with the rise of Brown, Rozier and Jayson Tatum but also in part due to the atmosphere that surrounds the team.
One that’s much lighter. More jovial. More conducive to bonding and team chemistry.
Comparing Walker’s good-natured persona and humility to Irving’s enigmatic character and bravado, one could see how the team’s new floor general is better equipped to lead a young team whose confidence and mood will be effected by the messages and emotional state of their leader.
Still, the two seemed to develop an interesting connection — one you might even consider a friendship — before their relationship deteriorated in front of everyone’s eyes in the second season as teammates. That said, Brown’s thoughts on Irving are particularly intriguing, which is why he was asked his thoughts about Irving missing their upcoming game.
Appearing to not know before being asked, Brown is nonchalant in his answer, saying “Oh well. We’ll catch him next time then” (per MassLive’s Tom Westerholm).
Expounding upon that statement, Brown says:
“Obviously he’s a great player for them and makes their team better, despite what they probably say. But it would’ve been nice, it would’ve been great to compete against a former teammate. Those are always fun.”
It’s difficult to mine any deep meaning from Brown’s statement other than he’s clearly moved on from last season’s chaos and that he’s genuinely looking forward to playing against his former teammate.
Whether that’s because he wants to try and make a statement with Irving on the floor, get a chance to be physical with him on the court or because he just likes the way those games can provide an emotional charge is unknown.
Maybe he’s even looking forward to burying the hatchet and chatting with his former pal. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened in the league.
What is known though is that when the Nets come to town, Boston will be ready and hope to make a point against Irving’s team whether he’s on the floor or not.
There’s no better way to prove that a former teammate picked the lesser team than by outplaying them.