A small insight into why Kyrie Irving, who left LeBron James to be ‘the focal point’ joined the Nets to share the spotlight with Kevin Durant
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In the summer of 2017, Kyrie Irving parted ways with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. His reason for the same? Kyrie wanted to “play in a situation where he can be more of a focal point and that he no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James.”
After two seasons with the Boston Celtics, Kyrie Irving could not step into the leadership role. Instead, rookie and sophomore duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown became the team leaders. This led to some reported friction in the locker room, which was denied by all parties.
In the summer of 2019, Kyrie chose to opt into his free agency, and signed with the Brooklyn Nets, along with his buddy Kevin Durant. This did not sit right with the Celtics fans, especially after Kyrie promised them in 2018 that he plans to re-sign with the 17x NBA Champions. The wrath of the Celtics fans hasn’t diminished, even after almost three years. We saw an example of the same in Game 1 at Boston.
But why did Kyrie Irving part ways with the Celtics? Let’s dive into it.
Kyrie Irving chose to join the Nets because he wanted to be closer to home after his grandfather’s passing
In the summer of 2017, the Boston Celtics traded a lot of assets in order to acquire Kyrie. They had a really strong season, acquiring a 34-10 record till mid-January. However, their move didn’t pan out as they wanted, as Kyrie got injured just before the playoffs. At the start of the 2018-19 season, Kyrie thanked the organization for betting on him and promised to re-sign with the Cs.
However, he packed things up and moved to Brooklyn with KD in the summer of 2019. This left everyone wondering why. Kyrie gave an answer for the same during media day availability with the Nets. Kyrie’s grandfather passed away early in the 2018-19 season, and that weighed heavily on Irving.
“After he passed, basketball was the last thing on my mind,” Irving said. “A lot of basketball and the joy I had from it was sucked away from me. There was a facial expression that I carried around with me throughout the year. Didn’t allow anyone to get close to me in that instance, and it really bothered me.”
“I talked to Danny [Ainge] and I wanted to re-sign. So throughout the year, it started becoming more and more clear that my relationship within my home life had a way higher precedence than the organization or anyone”
Celtics fans have a right to be upset, but I guess Kyrie is happy to be home, and that’s all that should matter.
