Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge took the blame squarely on himself for last season's shortcomings, deflecting it away from former franchise star Kyrie Irving, who has gotten most of it through the offseason.

In a recent interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, Ainge cleared the air and said it should be him, not Irving who gets the blame for how the 2018-19 season shook out.

“Kyrie's first year-and-a-half was terrific for us and I really liked and was hopeful that it was gonna be a successful marriage going forward, but he really wanted to go home,” said Danny Ainge. “That's his choice and I don't know why he gets all the blame. I'm the one who should be blamed for last year. We put a team together that just didn't have pieces that fit. We had a lot of talent, a lot of expectations — but it's certainly not Kyrie's fault.”

Irving's constant mood swings and indecision made him an easy target for vitriol, along with his shortcomings in the postseason. The Celtics had the upper hand with a Game 1 win on the road over the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the playoffs, but fell apart shortly after — getting blown out in Game 2 and never recovering after that, as the Bucks handed the Celtics a gentleman's sweep of the series.

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Irving's ghastly shooting through those last four games and his bulk volume (made only 25 of his 83 field goal attempts from Games 2 through 5 — 30.1%) made him an easy person to blame, but the Celtics were also dealing with a lost Jayson Tatum a hit-and-miss Jaylen Brown, and a bench that was still struggling to find its footing.

Ainge is cognizant of that but wound up striking gold once again by signing Kemba Walker, a player that now has the Celtics flying high in the East with a 12-4 record.