Analyst points out eerie similarities in Kyrie Irving’s Boston Celtics, Mavericks intros

Kyrie Irving’s comments in the wake of his trade from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks are eerily similar to the comments he made after his 2017 trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics.

As 98.5 The Sports Hub’s James Stewart pointed out on Twitter, Irving is once again ecstatic about the trade and is also looking forward to joining a coach/player on the franchise that just brought him into the fold.

Here were the two tweets presented without comment — just the thinking face emoji:

The differences in Kyrie Irving joining the Mavericks in 2023 and Boston Celtics in 2017

While Kyrie is already saying the same things now upon joining Dallas that he was when he was traded to Boston, there is actually a big difference between his new setup and the situation he walked into with the Celtics back during the 2017 offseason.

Irving is (or at least should be) the clear No. 2 option for the Mavericks with Luka Doncic already acting as the team’s quarterback on offense. In Boston, he joined the team as the undisputed leader in his first go-round as a former champion floor general serving as the offensive alpha.

Another key difference? Dallas is nothing close to a contender right now with depleted depth and defensive question marks with Dorian Finney-Smith off to Brooklyn in the Irving deal. Boston had win-now role players in Gordon Hayward, Marcus Morris, and Al Horford and a burgeoning young core of Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum who complemented Irving’s game when he was on the floor and was willing to embrace their help.

Irving has been the co-star on a championship team before, so the right follow-up moves at the deadline could make the Mavericks dangerous in the Western Conference. But there is little patience from the NBA viewing public with Irving considering the two bad blood-filled exits he had from Boston and Brooklyn.