In his weekly appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich” Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge went into detailed length on his stance concerning his star point guard.
With the Boston Celtics struggling out of the gates since the All-Star break there has been a growing conspiracy theory that the team may just be better off without super star point guard Kyrie Irving.
The reasoning? Boston hasn’t won a match with Irving in the lineup in their last six tries, while sitting on a three game win streak in the games he has missed.
The whispers of discontent have grown loud enough to reach the ears of Boston’s general manager Danny Ainge, who was pressed about the notion on his weekly appearance with “Toucher and Rich.”
"“It’s insane,” Ainge stated. “In Toronto, Kyrie plays the whole first quarter and we score 32 points and we have a lead, and we go in and he’s out of the game and (Toronto) goes on a 21-2 run, and we can’t score a basket. And so I don’t understand how that has anything to do with Kyrie and then the game before in Chicago, we’re ahead 33-30 at the end of the first quarter. … I don’t know what any of that has to do with Kyrie.”"
Kyrie’s leadership ability has been called to question as of late amidst the team’s four game losing streak. Players have expressed feelings of a lack of unity in the face of adversity. Fingers are being pointed every which way, and the team simply hasn’t lived up to expectations this season.
As the appointed leader of the group, the majority of the blame falls upon Irving’s shoulders. Old school guys like Antoine Walker have claimed that the way Kyrie has handled this criticism isn’t reminiscent of a guy with leadership qualities.
Kyrie Irving himself has even noted his struggles with leading the franchise in his comments about the phone call he made to LeBron James. Traversing the ups and downs of an NBA season has not been as easy as advertised, but Irving does feel confident in his ability to learn and adapt.
Danny Ainge whole heartedly believes in Kyrie’s ability, and refutes the claim that his presence has damaged the chemistry in the locker room. In fact, he believes that it is up to the other guys on the team to get back on track.
"“I think that’s insane,” Ainge quipped. “I’ve been in this league a long time. You don’t always get to play — not everybody might be the guy you want to play with, but that doesn’t even make any sense. First of all, guys like playing with Kyrie. Second of all, they believe and trust in him. And third is you still have to play hard, you still have to do your job, and that’s on them. But you’ve gotta do your job. You’ve gotta make your shots on occasion. You’ve gotta get stops of your guys no matter who you’re playing against. For somebody to say the 21-2 run in Toronto had anything to do with Kyrie is ridiculous. He’s sitting on the bench.”"
Well there you have it, folks! If there were any doubts surrounding how upper management feels about Kyrie Irving these days, Danny Ainge has all but put those notions to bed.
Boston has been committed to their point guard from the very beginning, and those feelings have not wavered despite the roller coaster ride of a season the franchise has endured this year.