Irving has largely kept a low profile this offseason, but he spoke with hosts KaiCenat, YourRage and Bruce Ray in a podcast that dropped Sunday. And in a wide-ranging interview that included a host of topics, he admitted that Brooklyn’s one-sided defeat against his former Celtics teammates was as inevitable as it was instructive. “It was meant to happen like that,” Irving said. “Motivation, bro. We needed it. We needed that humbling experience, especially going against the Celtics. It was already built in to be that matchup.
Source: Brian Lewis @ New York Post
What’s the buzz on Twitter?
Brian Lewis @NYPost_Lewis
#Nets needed ‘humbling’ #Celtics experience: Kyrie Irving. #nba nypost.com/2022/09/19/net… via @nypostsports – 11:04 PM
#Nets needed ‘humbling’ #Celtics experience: Kyrie Irving. #nba nypost.com/2022/09/19/net… via @nypostsports – 11:04 PM
Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Kyrie Irving on Nets getting swept by Celtics, ‘We needed that humbling experience’ nba.nbcsports.com/2022/09/19/kyr… – 5:45 PM
Kyrie Irving on Nets getting swept by Celtics, ‘We needed that humbling experience’ nba.nbcsports.com/2022/09/19/kyr… – 5:45 PM
Todd Whitehead @CrumpledJumper
50+ eFG% on 50+ postseason off-the-dribble jumpers since 2013:
Steph (8 times)
CP3 (5x)
KD (4x)
Harden (4x)
Kawhi (3x)
Dame (2x)
Luka (2x)
Mitchell (2x)
LeBron, Wade, Klay, Murray, Beal, Redick, PG, Kyrie, and 8 other NBA players (1x each) plus
Diana Taurasi and now
Chelsea Gray – 5:05 PM
50+ eFG% on 50+ postseason off-the-dribble jumpers since 2013:
Steph (8 times)
CP3 (5x)
KD (4x)
Harden (4x)
Kawhi (3x)
Dame (2x)
Luka (2x)
Mitchell (2x)
LeBron, Wade, Klay, Murray, Beal, Redick, PG, Kyrie, and 8 other NBA players (1x each) plus
Diana Taurasi and now
Chelsea Gray – 5:05 PM
Nick DePaula @NickDePaula
#WNBA Finals kicks in Game 4:
Jackie Young — Puma Fusion Nitro
Kelsey Plum — Nike Kyrie 7
DeWanna Bonner — Nike Zoom Freak 1
Courtney Williams — Nike PG 6 pic.twitter.com/0un8Xmfo3u – 5:19 PM
#WNBA Finals kicks in Game 4:
Jackie Young — Puma Fusion Nitro
Kelsey Plum — Nike Kyrie 7
DeWanna Bonner — Nike Zoom Freak 1
Courtney Williams — Nike PG 6 pic.twitter.com/0un8Xmfo3u – 5:19 PM
More on this storyline
The Nets’ first-round sweep at the hands of Boston wasn’t just humbling. It was also motivating. At least according to Kyrie Irving, who said the playoff drubbing went down exactly how it was supposed to — and precisely how it needed to in order to drive the Nets this season. “Get ’em up. I’ve got to get them up on both ends of the floor. I’ve got to be a complete player. Coming for different hardware this year, bro. I’ve been in the lab crazy, since we got 4-0’d,” Irving said on “The Boyz Night Podcast,” before adding three times that the sweep occurred just how it should have. “It was meant to happen like that.” -via New York Post / September 20, 2022
“I had a good time in Boston, bro. I was going there since I was probably 6 years old to a college basketball camp at Boston University. I always had family there. I spent a lot of time there,” Irving said. “But when I played there, man I met my wife there and we settled down. So a lot of good memories. Just on the court, things didn’t work out as I would have liked.” -via New York Post / September 20, 2022
Appearing on a Twitch stream this week, the Brooklyn Nets guard Irving spoke on being swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last year. Irving called it “a humbling experience” but cautioned Boston that they would be seeing the Nets again. “It was meant to happen like that,” said Irving. “Motivation, bro. We needed that humbling experience, especially going against the Celtics. It was already built in to be that matchup. “We gonna see ’em again,” Irving added. “We gonna have to. They gonna be where they gonna be. But those young-uns over there in Boston, bro, I got to see them grow up. So to see them doing what they did last year, on the Finals stage, making it that far, I’m glad they had to go through us.” -via Larry Brown Sports / September 19, 2022