Brad Stevens runs a tight ship, and no player is immune to his stern ruling.
The Boston Celtics will be a little shorthanded Monday night against the Chicago Bulls, as Kyrie Irving will be out of action. While Irving’s absence was chalked up to left knee soreness, Stevens ultimately revealed the real reason why Irving won’t be suiting up against the Bulls.
Asked Stevens about missing free throws on purpose–or failing to against Houston–and he had jokes.
"That’s really why we’re benching [Kyrie] tonight. I mean the guy can’t miss a free throw. We tried it all, and hopefully this message gets through that he’s not playing tonight"— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) March 5, 2018
In case sarcasm isn’t your strong suit, Stevens, of course, is joking. Irving sustained the knee injury Saturday night against the Houston Rockets, a game in which the Celtics point guard failed to intentionally miss free throws down the stretch of Boston’s eventual 123-120 loss.
Irving has been stellar in his first season with the Celtics, so much so that his most glaring “shortcoming” to date is that he’s too good at putting the ball in the basket.
