Marcus Morris seemed confident that the New York Knicks wouldn't have any tumult in the locker room after coming from a 2018-19 season plagued with it during his run with the Boston Celtics. The new Knick was asked if he thought his previous teammate Kyrie Irving failed in his leadership role with the Celtics, but the veteran forward wouldn't go that far.
“The word fail, I wouldn't say, I just think, I don't want to say fail, I just think mentally he had some other stuff going on and it was hard for him to separate that from the work place,” Morris explained, according to SNY's Ian Begley. “And that's difficult sometimes. But I do think he tried his hardest. I wouldn't use the word fail. At times, he just didn't, he just forgot how big of a leader he was. I think he sometimes forgot that. As a leader, outside stuff can affect our team. And I think that did. Not like outside distractions but like family stuff he had going on.”
Morris knows that Irving being singled out in Boston is “just how it goes” when it comes to a star player, and noted he had a “great relationship” with the 27-year-old, who signed a four-year, $137 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets in the summer.
“I love Ky,” said Morris. “I had a great relationship with Ky. Me and him were really good friends in there, we talked about a lot, what was going on. We never had no problems.”
The 6-foot-8 frontcourt stud was one of the vital pieces of a Boston roster, and also one of the most outspoken in times of struggle. He's expected to have a similar voice alongside other experienced players, all while guiding a young bunch through the course of a long season.
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