The Boston Celtics have been at the center of numerous offseason rumors, as the potential departures of Kyrie Irving and Al Horford continue to linger with free agency now less than one week away.
Of course, Kemba Walker-to-Boston murmurs have been swirling, which has relieved some of the gloom from the Celtics’ summer outlook. That gloom unfortunately was present for Boston during the regular season, and it appears that was more evident than ever on a January road trip in Miami.
ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan recently published a piece centered around the Irving conundrum where she wrote the All-Star point guard was upset that some of the Celtics’ young players went out in Miami in the middle of a back-to-back.
On Jan. 9, the Celtics blitzed the Indiana Pacers in Boston, then flew out that night to Miami, arriving at the team hotel after 2 a.m. on Thursday. Boston was set to play the Miami Heat that night, but, team sources said, that didn’t stop some of the young players from heading to South Beach, where the clubs stay open well past 5 a.m. It’s not uncommon for NBA players to go out when they’re on the road, but Irving was irked teammates decided to do it in the middle of back-to-back games.
Of course, the Celtics went on to lose their next three games on an ugly road trip that ended with Jaylen Brown pushing back at Irving for pointing fingers.
Things were not smooth for Boston this season, that much we know, but getting a peek at some of the internal strife certainly is interesting.
