Chris Broussard isn’t ready to jump ship — yet.
Broussard admitted Monday on FS1’s “First Things First” his confidence in the Celtics slowly is diminishing. But the NBA talking head still believes Boston can turn around its season, specifically if three things happen.
First, Broussard pointed to Kyrie Irving, whom he believes needs to do some soul searching to avoid becoming too disgruntled with the outside noise surrounding Boston’s struggles. Irving is the Celtics’ best player, and him regaining his swagger, so to speak, could go a long way toward stopping Boston’s current skid, which includes five losses in six games since the NBA All-Star break.
Second, Broussard wants to see more from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum and Brown were key contributors last season when Boston came within one win of reaching the NBA Finals without Irving and Gordon Hayward, but they haven’t really progressed this season. Broussard believes too much isolation play from the up-and-coming duo is to blame for their collective inconsistency.
Speaking of Hayward, it might be time for Celtics coach Brad Stevens to trim the veteran forward’s minutes, according to Broussard. Hayward, who suffered a gruesome leg injury on Opening Night last season, hasn’t been the same All-Star-caliber player since returning, and his continued inclusion in Boston’s rotation could be doing more harm than good.
So, will the Celtics be able to rectify some of these problems before it’s too late? Perhaps.
Then again, it already might be too late given Irving’s reported disengagement from his teammates and the general negativity that seems to have infiltrated the Celtics’ locker room.
