Charles Barkley is among those who believe Kyrie Irving’s tenure with the Boston Celtics is nearing its end.
The Celtics are facing elimination in their second-round NBA playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks after losing three straight games, and Barkley declared Wednesday on ESPN’s “Get Up!” that Game 5 will mark Irving’s final game in a Boston uniform.
“I think that it’s not a good mix there,” said Barkley, who said after Game 3 that Boston wouldn’t win another game against Milwaukee. “I think he’s not happy there.”
Irving, who landed with the Celtics before the 2017-18 season after requesting a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, can opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer. And while Irving said last October he planned to re-sign with Boston, there’s now a widespread belief the All-Star point guard will take his talents elsewhere, especially with the Celtics failing to meet expectations this season.
There’s also a growing belief that a breakup might be in Boston’s best interest, despite Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge saying several times throughout this season that he’d love to re-sign Irving. The C’s simply often haven’t looked right, for one reason or another, with Irving on the floor, and his questionable comments and leadership style have contributed to an all-around strange environment just one year after Boston came within one win of the NBA Finals.
“I don’t think Kyrie Irving can be the best player on your team,” Barkley said. “He’s a very talented player. But from a mental standpoint of being a leader of your franchise, that has to live with all the criticism, I don’t think he can be the best player on your team.
“When you’re a star and you’re the No. 1 guy on your team, you get all the credit and that’s great. But when things go bad, you get all the blame. And I don’t think Kyrie — he’s a nice kid and a hell of a player — but from a mental makeup, especially since they say he’s going to New York, listen, if he can’t handle playing in Boston, he’s got no chance of playing in New York because that’s a totally different animal.”
Both the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets have been discussed as potential landing spots for Irving should he leave the Celtics in free agency. The speculation could pick up sooner rather than later, too, as the Bucks will look to close out the Celtics on Wednesday night in Game 5 at Fiserv Forum.
