Kyrie Irving’s brief stint in Boston certainly wasn’t the smoothest, and one former Celtic thinks he knows why.
“When I was there, it looked like it was more of a team atmosphere and everybody liked each other,” Thomas told the New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy. “From watching from afar — which I always keep tabs on the Celtics because I have friends and I’m close to the coaching staff — it just didn’t seem like they loved playing with each other. That’s just from the outside looking in.
“If I were to compare the two that’s what it is — I feel like we enjoyed playing with each other, and from the outside looking in it didn’t look like they enjoyed playing with each other.”
In three seasons with the Celtics, Thomas learned a thing or two about what makes the team click. But despite spending two years in Boston, Irving didn’t seem to get the memo.
And when it comes to playing basketball in Boston, Thomas says it takes some real courage.
“Not saying Kyrie doesn’t (have the courage) because he hit one of arguably the biggest shots in NBA Finals history, he’s one of the best point guards to ever play the game,” Thomas said. “That’s just like Boston and New York (the Knicks). You have to have a different type of skin to be able to succeed there.
“They won 17 championships. They have 30 jerseys retired. So it’s expectations like you can do great but we need better and it’s always been like that. The media attention of putting on a Celtics jersey, a Knicks jersey, a Lakers jersey, those legendary teams and franchises, it’s just a little different.”
Hard to argue with that logic.
