Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas revealed what he thinks is the difference between his time with the Boston Celtics and Kyrie Irving's. While he was with the team, Thomas sensed that every single player liked one another. Meanwhile, when Irving came on board, Thomas observed that the Celtics squad didn't necessarily have the same chemistry.
“When I was there, it looked like it was more of a team atmosphere and everybody liked each other,” Thomas said, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “From watching from afar — which I always keep tabs on the Celtics because I have friends and I’m close to the coaching staff — it just didn’t seem like they loved playing with each other. That’s just from the outside looking in.
“If I were to compare the two that’s what it is — I feel like we enjoyed playing with each other, and from the outside looking in it didn’t look like they enjoyed playing with each other.”
Thomas echoed the observation of various people during Irving's stint in Boston. When the NBA champion joined them in 2017, they were immediately deemed as legitimate title contenders.
After all, they had a host of veterans and a strong young core. Irving, given his wealth of experience and overall skill, was expected to lead the Celtics to title contention.
But as the season went on, it turned out that the Celtics with Irving at the helm wasn't good as advertised. NBA insiders revealed that the team lacked chemistry off the court and it trickled onto their on-court performance.
As the leader of the team, Irving was blamed and criticized.
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