Things just went from bad to worse for the Boston Celtics, who suffered a 118-95 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena, and one former C’s star believes Kyrie Irving deserves the lion’s share of the blame.
Antoine Walker, who recently questioned Irving’s leadership, doubled down Wednesday on FS1’s “First Things First” while discussing Boston’s recent struggles.
The Celtics have dropped three straight games to begin the unofficial second half, yet Irving was rather short with his words after the team’s most recent defeat. And this didn’t sit well with Walker.
"Kyrie's not a leader. He's a great player, a superstar in this league, I would love to have him on my team, but he's not a leader. Last night, to have no comments and leave Marcus Smart's comment out to dry lets you know his concern about being on the Celtics." —@WalkerAntoine8 pic.twitter.com/1WCmjQiseh
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) February 27, 2019
Walker, a three-time All-Star who spent parts of eight seasons with Boston (1996-2003, 2005), said earlier this month he didn’t think Irving was a “true Celtic” and that the All-Star point guard would sign with the New York Knicks in free agency this summer. It appears the Celtics’ recent stretch of inconsistency only has strengthened Walker’s stance.
“One thing about being a Celtic — I played there seven and a half years — is you have to get that pride when you’re in that building and you’re around all those ex-players, because they’re still very much connected to it and you wanna be a Celtic,” Walker said Wednesday while discussing Irving’s leadership. “And I said this last time I was on the show: I don’t believe he’s a true Celtic. I think he’s in a situation where he knew he had two years. If it works out, we do something special (and) I may stay. But now I’ve got an opportunity to be a free agent this summer and go where I wanna go.”
Irving scored just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting Tuesday in Toronto. He’s been Boston’s best player this season — his second with the Celtics after coming over in a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers — but he also has called out his younger teammates at various points, which is even more interesting when you consider the C’s fell only one win short of the NBA Finals last season with Irving sidelined.
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