Kyrie Irving made his return to TD Garden on Friday for the first time since leaving the Boston Celtics in 2019.
Irving signed a monster four-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets after opting out of his contract with the C’s. The star point guard seems to have maintained solid relationships with his former teammates, as evidenced by his interactions with them before and after Friday’s preseason finale.
So, what was it like to be back on his old stomping grounds?
“Just another day at the job,” Irving said, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage.
OK, his full answer wasn’t so callous.
“Honestly, I’m grateful to be able to have relationships with a lot of these guys (that are) still here, guys that aren’t here still,” Irving said. “And you know, at the end of the day, we went to war together. And I respect all those young men down there. We’re not even young. We’re just kings growing in a business where we want to do what makes us happy. And to see Jayson get better, to see Jaylen get better, to see these guys mature and be in the positions that they’re in, I’m nothing but proud of them.”
That’s better.
