For much of the regular season, Kyrie Irving was an insufferable piece of work.
(Don’t yell at us, yell at Irving for admitting as much.)
But somewhere along the line, the Boston Celtics point guard cut the crap and realized he, the team’s leader, needed to change. If the Celtics were going to put a tumultuous regular season behind them and fulfill their lofty potential in the playoffs, Irving needed to set a better example.
According to Irving’s teammates, the shift occurred during the final month of the regular season.
“Kyrie has been in our ear, even weeks before the regular season ended, about the commitment and what we needed to do as a group, and how we needed to prepare and be better,” forward Al Horford recently told The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “I think that all the guys understood what he was trying to tell us and have taken up on that challenge in trying to be better and trying to do the little things to get us to this point.”
So, what did Irving say? What did he do?
Per Himmelsbach, Horford said there was no singular “rah-rah” moment, nor was the widely publicized team flight in March the ground-zero for Boston’s turnaround.
“Instead, it has been gradual and consistent, spread across practices and postgame sessions,” Himmelsbach wrote in a piece published Monday. “He has addressed the group and also pulled players aside and offered individual tips and encouragement.”
Fellow Celtics Terry Rozier, Aron Baynes and Jayson Tatum largely echoed Horford’s sentiments. “It’s great to be around him,” Baynes said. As for head coach Brad Stevens, he can point to a specific moment (well, moments) when Irving helped change the team’s collective mindset.
According to Stevens, Irving addressed the team after a practice March 28. The next night, he hit a buzzer-beating game-winner against the Indiana Pacers to clinch home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
“You could kind of sense there was a little bit more of, ‘All right, it’s go time,’ in a lot of ways,” Stevens told Himmelsbach. “Obviously, we rode a lot of ups and downs all year, but that can be part of your path to get to the best version of yourself.”
It remains to be seen whether Irving’s efforts will prove worthwhile. Sure, the Celtics hold a 1-0 series lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Boston is capable of much more than simply showing well in the second round.
Still, as of right now, it’s hard to argue with the results.
