Here are at least two reasons why the Boston Celtics feature prominently in the minds of NBA players.
The Athletic on Monday released the results recently conducted a comprehensive, anonymous poll of 127 NBA players. Kyrie Irving’s name popped up a lot, which should come as no surprise, given his status as an elite point guard, NBA champion and subject of countless rumors.
Irving ranked fifth in the MVP voting, appearing on just 1 percent of the ballots. He received the same share of the votes and finished in 10th place when The Athletic asked players who they’d sign first when building a roster from scratch. He also was part of a 14-way tie for fourth place in the “most overrated” category after appearing on 2.1 percent of votes. Conversely, he was tied for eighth place when 1 percent of the players answered he’s the “most underrated” player in the league.
However, Irving dominated one category — best ballhandler — taking home an eye-popping 77.1 percent of the votes. Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry was in second place with 7.4 percent of the vote.
“But Irving, who has been dubbed the best dribbler of all time by his peers in the past, is in a class all his own,” The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens also appeared in the poll, finishing behind only Gregg Popovich when The Athletic asked players “Which coach, aside from your own, would you want to play for?” Stevens garnered 10 percent of the vote, some distance behind the San Antonio boss, as Popovich’s name appeared on 40.9 percent of the ballots.
The Athletic conducted the poll between March 16 and April 1, as the regular season was nearing its end. It’d be interesting to see how the results might change if the poll was done in the offseason and included whatever events the playoffs bring to the fore.
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