Terry Rozier went all in on his description of this rollercoaster season, especially detailing his star teammate Kyrie Irving and his approach to the game and the locker room. Rozier, who once led this Boston Celtics roster to one game away from the NBA Finals, noted Irving has a stark leadership style — one that didn't paint the soon-to-be free agent in the best of strokes.
Rozier went on the set of ESPN's Get Up! and said Irving has a “my way or the highway” approach:
“He's a great guy, great leader,” said Rozier (h/t Mike Chiari of Bleacher Report). “You know, you just have to adjust to his style. Whatever Kyrie wants done, he's gonna show it, that's what he wants done. You have to adjust to his style of play and how he goes about every game and every day.”
Many Boston fans have been left utterly disappointed by the Celtics' 4-1 exit in the second round at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, taking four straight losses after one rousing win on the road — which rendered Paul Pierce's series guarantee useless.
Yet Rozier wouldn't hesitate to shade his teammate, saying that at times Irving would stray from the game plan to stage his own late-game heroics.
“I think guys was getting it, especially toward the end of the season,” said Rozier. “Like I said, we had come into the game and it'd be a different game plan than what we kind of expected and went through in practice.”
The Celtics changed from a democratic, ball-sharing culture in 2017-18 to one that featured Irving as the maestro and relied on his ability to score and make plays for the team. That style arguably killed whatever hope the Celtics had of returning to the Eastern Conference Finals and staking their claim at the NBA Finals this season.
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