Kyrie Irving became a permanent villain in New England when he left the Boston Celtics following a tumultuous season and awful postseason performance. With he and the Nets set to take on Jayson Tatum and the Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs, his history with the team is being replayed.

Joining the Brooklyn Nets kept the intensity around his villainous status in Boston going, as he signed up for four matchups per season with the Celtics by joining their division rival. After helping the Nets take them down in five games in last year's first-round playoff series, Boston is now the top dog for this year's series.

Although the entire Celtics team had trouble getting along in Irving's last season, there doesn't seem to be any more bad blood. Tatum said that Irving has regrets about he handled things with Boston, though he didn't get into the nitty-gritty.

Boston traded franchise icon Isaiah Thomas to land Irving, only for him to be injured in one playoff series and play so bad in another, it effectively ended his time with the team. A season's worth of finger-pointing and failing to mesh led to Irving's stint lasting just two seasons.

The Celtics have rebounded from Irving's departure and reestablished themselves into one of the best teams in the league. They will face a very talented Nets team at the start of the NBA playoffs. The Nets could be even better if Ben Simmons is healthy enough to play, though the chances of that don't seem very good.