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While seemingly everyone else in Boston will bring out the pitchforks for Kyrie Irving’s potential return to TD Garden on Nov. 27, don’t expect Boston Celtics president and general manager Danny Ainge to join in the mob mentality, opting for a more balanced view of Irving’s time with the franchise.
When asked by “The Toucher and Rich Show” hosts Fred Toettcher and Rich Shertenlieb about the possibility of giving Irving a tribute video — what has become a common gesture around the league for certain players upon their return to a former team — Ainge didn’t balk at the possibility.
“Sure… He gets blamed for a lot of the sour last year,” says Ainge (per Boston.com), “and I just think it’s much, much bigger than that. I don’t have any grudges against Kyrie.
Does he think Irving should get a tribute video? "Sure." Also adds: "He gets blamed for a lot of the sour of last year, and I just think it's much, much bigger than that. I don't have any grudges against Kyrie."
— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) November 21, 2019
For all the abrasiveness, detachment, disengagement and even selfishness that Irving displayed last year — issues that reared their ugly head in the locker room, in the media and on the court —the issue extended past Irving in that he was far from the only reason Boston fell short of expectations.
With Gordon Hayward’s return, there was a natural push-and-pull — or power struggle, if you will — that placed pressure on the core players to find a way to mesh and they were slow to, even needing both Hayward and Jaylen Brown to come off the bench so that Irving and Jayson Tatum could act as their 1-2 punch.
At this point, though the Celtics saw steady improvement from Hayward and Brown as they season progressed, there was already growing frustration on the part of Brown.
He’s recently admitted to being concerned about his lack of opportunity in 2018-19 with his contract extension approaching and being demoted to the bench, rather than suggesting he come off the bench like Hayward did, has a different effect on the psyche as well.
Speaking of Brown, his tiffs with Irving — whose opinions he openly questioned — further damaged the chemistry he was trying to salvage in an ironic sort of way.
Not to be forgotten, backup point guard Terry Rozier was struggling after playing like a high-level starter in the 2018 NBA Playoffs. As he would say during the season, he sacrificed more than any other player on the team, and while he kept his head down and stayed out of the headlines (for anything unrelated to his performance on the court) it’s obvious that he too was frustrated throughout the season.
That’s at least three of the team’s top six players (counting Tatum, Hayward, Marcus Smart) who were clearly frustrated with by their own situations, although there was interconnection.
If Irving revealing that he was grieving from the passing of his grandfather holds any weight, perhaps Boston’s inability to identify his behavior was out of character — particularly after having multiple players whose experienced losses to loved ones in recent years (Smart, Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder) — should also be explored.
As Ainge said, the issue was far more complex than the amalgamation of Irving’s character flaws causing Boston to miss the playoffs.
Though it was ugly off the court for the six-time All-Star last season and maybe even uglier against the Milwaukee Bucks in the postseason, Irving has had many positive moments that showed he may in fact be growing as a leader in his first season.
While more or less taking former backup Terry Rozier under his wing during the 2018 NBA Playoffs while he was out with a surgery to deal with a bacterial infection, he also developed a strong relationship with young forward Jayson Tatum which is important for players planning to be one of the league’s dynamic duos.
He was also coachable, adhering to Stevens’ wishes to put efforts into areas of his game that he had previously not been not a focus for him, like defense and facilitating, even recording a career-high in assists per game last season (6.9). That, if nothing else, is how good leaders can lead by example on the court.
Though Ainge is unsure if Irving will receive a tribute video, it would be a kind gesture from the Celtics that would help put to bed a relatively threadbare narrative. There would be plenty of highlights to pull together if so.
However, that’s only if Irving actually comes to Boston, whether he’s healthy enough to play or not.
