Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart says Kyrie Irving was great to him, contrary to rumors that the All-Star has issues with his younger teammates in Beantown.

Speaking on The Jump, Smart shared that he had sit-downs with Irving, particularly when his mother passed away. Irving even told Smart to call him as soon as he gets back.

“For me personally, Kyrie was great to me,” Smart shared. “I've had sitdowns with Kyrie when things with me wasn't going too well. He was pulling me to the side. And it wasn't even basketball.”

https://streamable.com/m1fyv

To recall, throughout the entire 2018-2019 season, the Celtics were hounded with controversies. There were even plenty of rumors that the team had off-court chemistry problems which trickled onto their on-court performance.

The 2018-19 Celtics team were tagged as one of the most talented in the league. Despite this, they underachieved and finished with only a 49-33 record. They finished as the fourth seed in the East but eventually fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the playoffs.

All the blame was put on Irving — the team's supposed leader and best player. Some believe that he simply failed to keep the team together.

With that said, Smart's words are pretty revealing. Though he admitted that he can only speak for himself, it's still a great insight into what Irving is like as a leader. Contrary to what critics have said, maybe the Celtics-Irving connection simply just didn't work out and there's not a single person that should be blamed.