Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown barks back at Kyrie Irving following loss to Nets

Following an impressive 4-0 start to the new year, the Boston Celtics have (yet again) fallen back into bad habits. The team just finished its recent road trip empty-handed after an ugly loss at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets. Guys (such as Jaylen Brown) are starting to publicly point fingers, as things continue to crumble for the group.

Fresh off the heels of Kyrie Irving’s controversial claims about the team and who to fault for their struggles, Jaylen Brown had a few things to say following the Boston Celtics’ loss to the Brooklyn Nets Monday night.

"“We’ve just got to have each other’s backs at the end of the day,” Brown said. “We can’t make comments, we can’t point fingers. We just have to continue to empower each other and have each other’s backs. If we don’t, if we start pointing fingers, everybody’s going to go into their own little shells. We’ve got to continue to play basketball. It starts from the top to the bottom. Not from the bottom to the top but the top to the bottom. We’ve got to continue to empower each other and make the best of this. We have a lot of talent, and we know what we’re capable of doing. We have to go out there and do it. Playing free, playing loose, having fun.”"

These comments are all but certainly a direct response to some of Irving’s claims about the team’s “lack of experience” and youth issue. Kyrie singled out the young players multiple times in his claim, but went on to take personal credit for some of the blame of the team’s woes in noting that he needs to be a better leader.

Clearly Jaylen was upset by the way Irving approached his comments, going on to express that everyone on the team is equally responsible for the inconsistent nature of the group right now.

"“It’s not one guy’s fault,” Brown said. “It’s not young guys, old guys’ fault. It’s everybody. We all have to be accountable to turn this thing around. There’s stretches where we play good basketball, and stretches we don’t, but we all have to have each other’s backs.”"

Some might bat an eye at what Kyrie said, but Irving does have some justification for the comments he made. Thus far, guys like Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier have tried and failed to adjust to their new roles in the offense. Gordon Hayward has struggled getting back to where he was before the ankle injury. Selfish play and isolation basketball have damaged the flow of their offense. Guys are fighting during timeouts mid game. Some of this can be pinpointed to leadership, but a large sum has to do with inexperience and resistance to accepting new roles.

Interestingly, not all of Kyrie’s teammates share Brown’s view of the comments. Jayson Tatum took a different approach to answering questions pertaining to the subject.

"“It’s not really directed towards anybody or calling guys out,” Tatum said. “He’s telling his truth. He knows what it takes to win a championship, and most of us don’t. And sometimes you gotta be brutally honest in this profession to get the best out of one another. If it comes from a good place, it’s not trying to bring anybody down.”"

Rather than attempting to shift the blame back at Kyrie, Tatum accepts what he said and believes that it comes from a good place. It appears that Tatum looks at this as an opportunity and a challenge to get better and to learn from the struggles.

It isn’t easy to be a leader in the NBA, particularly a leader of a team as young and talented as the Boston Celtics. Kyrie Irving wanted the keys to the car, and he got them. Now, he is fully realizing the ups and downs that come with the job, but is willing and able to learn from his mistakes and improve moving forward.

Kyrie clarified how he felt during shootaround on Monday, boiling his comments down to his desire to win.

"“Sometimes I may come off and say things, never to question my teammates in public like that ever again, but I just want to win so bad,” Irving said. “I came from a place where I asked for a trade and I come in here and believe in this organization, and I want these young guys to be successful.”"

Only time will tell if the Celtics will be able to work out their kinks and throw all of this in their rear view mirror. With 39 games remaining before the playoffs there’s still plenty of time, but the team has to start cooperating if they want to make it work.