The 9 most disappointing Celtics players since 2008

2. Kyrie Irving

Era: Kyrie Pipe Dream

Disappointment Points: 8.5

Kyrie Irving is like an estranged second cousin, once removed. I’m not sure if the “family” tag really applies that far down the ladder, but I also know we had some sort of relationship… at some point.

I can tell you where I was when I heard that we had traded Isaiah Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Irving, and can also tell you exactly how I felt about it.

I was lying face first on the bed, with my face hanging off the end. I had been sick the previous week, so I was doing the sit-in-weird-ways-to-see-if-I-feel-better routine. Then I got the notification, and I didn’t feel sick anymore.

I loved Isaiah Thomas, but I also wasn’t sure he was a winning player in a playoff series. He was the ultimate target on defense, and I knew that Kyrie was maybe the single most talented offensive player in the league.

But Kyrie was a disaster, even if opposing teams’ attempts to guard him were more akin to grabbing smoke than playing basketball. He was the President and CEO of not being accountable and missed an entire playoff run that thrust Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown into the limelight earlier than expected.

Because with Kyrie, it was never about the team. He modeled his lifestyle after LeBron James, making every one of his teammates into a piece to further his legacy. But he had none of the overwhelming on-court dominance or shrewd public persona that James carried around. Rather, he was a self-sustaining distraction.

Kyrie was a nutcase and a locker-room tumor when he should have been the best player on one of the best teams. The fact that I don’t even need stories to back it up for every single person who reads this to agree with me should tell you everything you need to know.