What did Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum recently say about his former teammate and current Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving?
While it would be easy for Boston Celtics fans to curse the very name of notorious Beantown-to-Brooklyn defector Kyrie Irving, the “wired” way to look at his time in a C’s uniform is to appreciate the wisdom he might have doled out as an accomplished multi-time All-Star and 2016 NBA Champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Current playoff hero Jayson Tatum had a lot of good things to say about his former teammate–one who many thought was holding the 2017 #3 pick back–when asked recently about his thoughts on Kyrie Irving by Shams Charania:
"“Ky is like my big brother,” Tatum said. “We still talk to this day, and we’ve talked a few times this playoffs. He always encourages me to be special. Having that relationship with him and having somebody like him in my ear at a young age, it means a lot.”"
While we could all slow our roles with any thoughts of the two teaming up once again in the future, it is clear that there is a great deal of mutual respect between Tatum and Irving even after everything that went down.
Truthfully, Jaylen Brown seems to have been the one who got along with Irving the least, which may have been a potential culprit for his benching in the 2018-19 season. Marcus Smart has defended the mercurial point guard in the past after the TD Garden (we miss you) was filled with “Kyrie sucks” chants. Smart was the beneficiary of Brown’s benching, inheriting his starting spot.
In all, even with the dysfunctional locker room, the 2018-19 Boston Celtics were a 48-win team that beat some of the league’s best teams that season including both NBA Finals teams. It clearly wasn’t all bad. Whatever Tatum could take away from those years to help him now, so be it!