After a season full of media rumors surrounding Kyrie Irving’s future in Boston, tonight could define the 6-time NBA all-star’s time in the nation’s most accomplished sports city.
When Kyrie came to Boston it had a unique feel. One of the leagues most exciting players was joining its winningest franchise. He and Gordon Hayward added to a young and promising group, creating the league’s deepest roster. Seven to eight players that would start on most other teams in the NBA now played for a rising star in the coaching ranks in Brad Stevens. But last year Irving and Hayward fell to injury and were not able to lead Boston into the playoffs.
This year is different. The younger players have experienced a deep playoff run and the veterans are healthy. The Celtics still boast a deep roster and they’ve found a way to limit the Greek Freak like no other team has all season with physicality and savvy defense.
But the key of this series isn’t its best player in Giannis Antetokounmpo – it is Uncle Drew. Though still young, tonight is a defining night for Kyrie Irving’s entire career.
We know what Kyrie Irving is capable of. 27 points per game over the course of two Finals appearances in ’16 and ’17. A game-winning shot to win the Finals against a team with the greatest regular season record of all time. 11 career playoff games with at least 30 points, and 4 with at least 35 points. At 6’3″, Irving has arguably the largest “bag of tricks” that we have ever seen in the game of basketball.
He’s shown that he can be an elite scorer at an elite level when the stakes are the highest, but as Devin Booker will tell you (26.6 PPG, t-7th in the league, 19 wins), winning basketball is more than just scoring.
A loss tonight puts the Celtics in a 3-1 hole heading back to Milwaukee. Even bigger than that, if the Celtics are to end up losing this series, it would be surprising if Irving decided to stay.
Since the Bucks focused their defense on him after a surprising Game 1 win for Boston, Irving has struggled. He’s shot just 30% from the field the last two games, and the Celtics have dropped 2 in a row in convincing fashion. Though there have been a few other issues, Irving’s questionable shot selection and poorly-timed hero ball have plagued the Celtics. That has to change if he wants to leave the legacy he intended when arriving in Boston.
Kyrie wanted out of Cleveland because he wanted to be the man. There will likely be no better option out there in his entire career than right now, right here. This team has enough depth, defense, athleticism and shooting to compliment Irving’s style of play and compete for a championship with #11 in the driver’s seat.
It’s chemistry, it’s getting good shots, it’s getting teammates involved, and it’s playing defense. Irving has shown, inconsistently, that he is more than capable of all of these things. But whether or not he is able to put it all together, starting tonight and continuing for the rest of this series, could define his entire career in Boston.