It didn't take long after a string of four straight losses for a list of dirty laundry to show up at Kyrie Irving's doorstep. The Boston Celtics guard had perhaps the worst four-game stretch of his playoff career, and his reputation as a player and teammate took perhaps an even bigger hit.
It wasn't long ago that Irving was criticized for his poor shot-selection and even confronted by media members for his questionable decision-making on defense and puzzling timing with his lack of tempo management.
“I’m trying to do it all,” said Irving after Game 4, as the Celtics trailed their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Milwaukee Bucks 3-1. “Twenty-two shots, I should have shot 30. I’m that great a shooter.”
That “great shooter” mustered only 102 points in 104 shots throughout the series against the Bucks, making only 37 of them for a ghastly 35.6%.
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Yet questions about his selfishness and wishy-washy relationship with his teammates have been apparent throughout this season — and tough to ignore by many.
“He takes the air out of the locker room,” a member of the Celtics organization told Jeff Goodman of Stadium. “And you just never know what you’re going to get with him.”
Irving has been described as “moody, immature and tough to coach” by people who were around him when he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Given the storm of drama surrounding him this 2018-19 campaign, it seems not much has changed for him after forcing his way out of The Land and onto Bean Town during the summer of 2017.
His venture with the Celtics could soon come to an end, though, as he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 — and as some already expect, sign elsewhere.