When the Boston Celtics visited the Brooklyn Nets on Black Friday, some of Kyrie Irving’s old teammates delivered a loud message. Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Semi Ojeleye, Brad Wanamaker and Robert Williams all greeted the ex-Celtics point guard at mid-court, each embracing him in some form or fashion.
With all the controversy surrounding last year’s Celtics team, the number of players who made a point to speak with Irving was a bit surprising. Though there were some who didn’t talk to Irving, at least publicly.
One of them was Jaylen Brown. There’s been speculation he was among the young players Irving spoke about unfavorably during his time in Boston. But it appears Brown has moved on.
During a recent interview with Brandon Robinson of Heavy, the Celtics wing explained why Irving does not the level of blame he’s received.
Everybody is going to have their own opinion. I don’t think Kyrie cares too much, maybe he does, and maybe he shouldn’t care as much as he does. He’s Kyrie Irving at the end of the day … nobody is perfect. Kyrie got a lot of the blame and was undeserving. It wasn’t his fault that certain guys couldn’t take a step back. It wasn’t his fault. That was the front office and the coach’s fault. He gets a lot of that blame because he was the star. But a lot of that should be on the organization and coaching staff.
Brown also stated he’s “happy to see him flourish,” and he believes Irving will “be good for the Brooklyn Nets.”