Kyrie Irving talks the Boston Celtics season and more on ESPN’s The Jump

The Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving sat down with Rachel Nichols of ESPN’s The Jump today and discussed the struggles that the team has faced, how he feels the young guys are progressing.

In the short video interview, we also see Kyrie speak about his call to former teammate LeBron James, what he has learned as a leader since joining the Boston Celtics and as expected, his upcoming free agency in the summer.

If you cast your memory back 58 games ago to the start of the season, many including myself had the Celtics taking the Eastern Conference by a landslide. However, things don’t always go the way they are supposed to and although the team currently sits in the four seed, just one game back of the Indiana Pacers, it’s been a season of ups and downs, which has drawn plenty of criticism from the media and players alike.

So when asked about the challenges the Celtics have faced, Kyrie provided us with his opinion as he told Nichols:

"“You obviously have expectations to live up to individually, but as a team, you know its a lot to figure out all in one year. We didn’t just fill in pieces here and there. We filled in pieces with great players.” Kyrie replied.Before adding:“A lot has changed since the beginning of this season, But overall, I just want to win and i’ma dedicate myself every day, and if have to bring everyone else up with me then that’s just what i will have to do.”"

Something that has been a big problem for the team has been team chemistry. Marcus Morris recently spoke about how the season hasn’t been fun even though the team has been winning. As mentioned, things have all gone the way we have liked or hoped, but even though the Celtics have a winning record, it seems like something within the locker room is not quite right.

Kyrie was asked whether he had felt this and it’s fair to say; this is where the focus of a young core with serious potential came into the microscope. He told Nichols:

"“It’s been a trying year for us, because we have a bunch of young men in our locker room that feel like they’re capable of doing a lot more than what they’re doing,”Before going on to say:“And that’s okay, but there is a maturity that you have to have, there’s a level of professionalism that you have to showcase every single day. That’s what the great ones do.”"

Obviously, we all remember why Kyrie is a member of this team after he famously asked out of Cleveland and away from then leader LeBron James. His reasons we clear, Irving wanted to have his own team in which he would be the go-to, number one guy. We have all seen that he is more than able to take the Celtics to the next level and has stepped up to the plate, so when asked what he had learned so far, he replied:

"“You don’t have to try to be a leader; you naturally prepare yourself for this position. You naturally start listening to outside advice, like hey how do you deal with this, how do you deal with that and at the end of the day i have always had the tools, now it’s just about going out there and doing it and proving it, that’s the best version of me.”"

Kyrie then spoke about THAT call to LeBron, in which it was reported he apologized for being the young player he once was when he was with the Cavaliers. Irving was heavily critical of Boston young players after a recent defeat.

Of course, a Kyrie Irving interview or media availability scrum isn’t complete until the elephant in the room has been mentioned, so if you thought that this was to be any different then think again. The four-minute and 43-second video almost made it without a word, but given its broadcast on one of the biggest networks worldwide, it was pretty much inevitable that the question was inbound. So once again here we go! Kyrie was asked about his free agency in the summer and this time around he made his thoughts on his situation clear.

"“Talk follows the great players in the league,” he said. “I’m appreciative and grateful to be one of those great players in our league now. I’ve worked my way to get here and honestly all that – that goes with the free agency talk. It’s really a distraction.Kyrie then added some words about how it gets into the locker room and that media has previously broken up locker rooms:“A lot of people don’t realize that on the outside, a lot of things that are said get into the locker rooms. A lot of things that are put into the headlines get into the locker rooms, media has broken up locker rooms, it’s been done before.” adding. “You say something that’s, and instead of addressing it up with that person or individual, you get human interaction. You read it on your phone.”"

The interview gave us plenty to think about and shows us exactly why Kyrie is the guy that is perfect for the young guys to learn from. You can watch the full video below.