NBA insider reveals Kyrie Irving’s stamp on the Boston Celtics logo was treated with indifference, which has been perceived as a major problem
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Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics have a little history together, don’t they?
There was a time that the now Nets star was unhappy at Cleveland, despite winning a championship with the franchise. The reason was that, the star had been promised to be the centerpiece of the franchise before he signed his contract with the franchise at the time. However, as soon as LeBron James entered the equation, he was forced to play second fiddle.
This eventually caused him to leave the Cavaliers, something the Celtics benefitted from greatly. They acquired Irving, and at the time placed him as the crown jewel of their roster.
A lot of time has passed since then, and Kyrie is on another team completely. While this wouldn’t usually be a problem, the move was done after the player promised to re-sign with the C’s, a promise he obviously did not uphold.
Taking this in mind, the series this season between the Celtics and Kyrie’s Nets this season was expectedly a hot-blooded affair. But, when the player did something that Boston should have perhaps taken exception to, there was no reaction. And now, as per reports, that is causing massive problems within the organization.
Let’s get into it.
Also Read: How rivalry between Knicks legend and former Pistons star began ahead of the Moscow Olympics 1980
Boston Celtics want their players to be competitive, and feel they should have seen Kyrie Irving’s stamp as a spit in the face
Frankly, we can’t agree more with the organization here.
Losing or no, in the NBA you need to go down fighting. And when Irving evidently stamped the Celtics logo after a win in game 4, many expected exactly that to happen. A fight.
Instead, Jared Weiss of the Athletic reveals that he received news of the Celtics players just being indifferent to it. He wrote the following on the matter.
“[Marcus] Smart has long been a favorite of both [Brad] Stevens and predecessor Danny Ainge, even as Ainge was reportedly exploring trades for Smart… Despite the continuity in leadership, several team sources suggest the Celtics’ culture of competition is eroding — with more than one source pointing to the players’ perceived indifference toward Kyrie Irving stomping on the Celtics logo after the final home game of the season as a red flag they did not exhibit the same sense of pride in the organization that has been the Celtics’ calling card in years past.”
The NBA may not be as fierce and barbaric as before, and that can absolutely be a good thing. But, if a former player disrespects your franchise like that, we believe you need to react.
Unless the Boston Celtics players learn that dogged mentality, winning it all isn’t going to be possible.
