If you went back in time and found yourself in the summer of 2017 right after Kyrie Irving demanded a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, there’s no way you’d ever think you’d see that guy in anything but another green uniform for the rest of his career.
The Celtics traded Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, two draft picks and some cap filler to the Cavaliers in exchange for Irving in August that summer. He seemed so thrilled after finally getting his wish to move on from the Cavaliers.
READ MORE: The Celtics gave up more in the Irving trade than any team had in years at that point
And with the way Irving and everyone else talked about the team throughout that season, it just seemed like a foregone conclusion that he’d be a Celtic for the rest of his life.
Alas. Here we are. Irving is a Dallas Maverick and will go up against his former team in the NBA Finals this year. Not only that, but people in Boston absolutely hate Irving at this point.
Some of you are probably wondering how we got here. What on Earth made Kyrie decide to leave Boston? Don’t you worry, folks. We got you.
Let’s dig into it.
Irving’s first year with Boston didn’t go as planned
Irving’s first year with the Celtics was solid. Despite losing Gordon Hayward to a catastrophic leg injury, Boston was still the best team in the Eastern Conference as a 53-win team.
The injury bug bit again, though. Irving missed the end of the year because of an infection on the same knee he’d had a patellar fracture on in 2015. Despite him missing time, though, the Celtics still made a run to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Irving told fans he would stay
Things got a bit tense through the summer because of Irving’s refusal to sign a contract extension with the Celtics. It made sense because he’d make more money hitting the open market and re-signing in Boston, but it still had fans on edge.
Leading into the season, though, he sounded committed. He even told fans and the team he planned on re-signing in Boston.
“If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here.” – @KyrieIrving https://t.co/0wDLzuv5WL
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 4, 2018
He even starred in a Nike commercial with his dad about hanging his jersey in the rafters at TD Garden someday.
Obviously, none of that happened because things changed.
Boston’s chemistry was off
As Boston got deeper into the season, it was clear there was a chemistry problem with the team. Something wasn’t clicking.
Irving tried to take on a leadership role with the team as one of the veteran players on the squad, but it backfired on him. He called out the young players on the team and completely lost the locker room.
Kyrie Irving had a lot to say postgame but what stood out was “The young guys don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team. What it takes every day. And if they think it is hard now, what do they think it will be like when we’re trying to get to the Finals?”
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 13, 2019
Kyrie continued with “There were no expectations last year. Everyone played free and easy. Everyone surpassed whatever they expected for themselves. This year? We all have high expectations. The players, the coaches, everyone. And that’s good, but we aren’t doing it yet.”
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 13, 2019
Kyrie ended with “We can get there. We’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better. We need to win these games on the road. That’s on me as a leader. I need to be a better leader and to help get us there.”
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 13, 2019
Irving switched up
Shortly after this, by February, Irving had changed his tune about re-signing with Boston. He was asked whether he’d be back and said “Ask me July 1.” That’s a totally different tone than “I plan on re-signing here.”
Kyrie Irving asked if his mindset has changed regarding re-signing with Boston: “Ask me July 1.” He says he’s going to do what’s best for his career.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 1, 2019
He also met with Kevin Durant later that year at the All-Star game where Durant later admitted the two were “solidified” in teaming up at this point.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last night 👀
(@jpizzy15 sent me the video) pic.twitter.com/xKXT8MPnwm
— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) February 18, 2019
At this point, it was over in Boston for Irving.
Irving said “personal factors” made him change his mind
Boston flames out of the playoffs against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. Irving signs with Brooklyn later that summer.
He was asked why he changed his mind later on in his introductory press conference with Brooklyn and explained his rationale. To make a long story short, he said some “personal” things were going on in his life that made him change his mind.
"I just wanted to come here with a very fresh mindset and make sure that I'm honest with my teammates going forward."@KyrieIrving on a new start in Brooklyn. (via YES Network) #NBAMediaDay pic.twitter.com/maovWgOV9n
— NBA TV (@NBATV) September 27, 2019
“Nine months ago, I was sitting in front of the Boston crowd saying that I wanted to re-sign. And after that, a lot of things happened in my personal life that really changed the landscape of how I felt about the game of basketball and actually playing it in a team environment. That really affected me as a human being. I didn’t share it with anyone. I didn’t want to come out and say that this is bothering me, or I’m in a depression at this point of dealing with the death of my grandfather.
So when all this happened, and the NBA and the ‘pressures,’ I’ll put it in quotations, from this basketball game came into free agency and I was dealing with my future, I wanted to dispel all those things, but I don’t think I did it in the right way of being honest about how I felt.”
The rest is history.
