“People wanted to see us fail at this juncture, our names being dragged” Kyrie Irving gets brutally honest after being clean swept in first-round vs Celtics
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Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving looked at the “clean-sweep” series as motivation and targeted fanatics who wanted the Brooklyn Nets team to fail. He gave his honest opinion on those people and went onto seek motivation for the unwanted and disappointing exit from the playoffs.
As unexpected as it could be, the top title contender team, Brooklyn Nets was swept aside by Boston Celtics in 1st round. A team loaded with offensive talent went cold against hard defense from Celtics players. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were targeted by many analysts for poor performance, but the talented guard considers the exit as a “natural” occurrence in people’s careers. Irving is looking forward to starting fresh and preparing for the next season.
In the post-game interview, Kyrie reacted to the question regarding their failure in the series. He congratulated Boston Celtics for their mature plays and expressed disappointment over the Nets’ performance. He also commented on people who considered Nets as contenders and wanted the team to fail. He said, “They have so much to say at this point so I am just using that as fuel for the summer. And come into the season starting from October.”
The high expectation burden on Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant
When a team is built around 2 Rookie of the year winners, the experience of NBA championship, and multiple scoring titles by their names, there are huge expectations from them. Kevin Durant who won 4 Scoring titles and the 2008 Rookie of the year award is certainly one of the best shooters of his generation. Similarly 2012 Rookie of the year, Kyrie Irving is one of the best ball handlers and dynamic scorers by far. Adding another scoring champion, and assists king James Harden in the mix gave the team a massive chance in the 2022 season. But his trade for Ben Simmons, seemed to have taken the Nets to down-wing by all means in the postseason.
Voted 71% (by GMs in the league) as favorites to win the title, the Nets team was by far the best in the league, while the Lakers were 2nd with mere 17% voting. With such difference in perceptions, Brooklyn Team was constantly targeted even for a single loss in the regular season. Kyrie’s Vaccination Situation, Harden’s trade bearing the problem with team chemistry, and the injury to Kevin Durant made the road to playoffs difficult for them.
But still, they were considered strong enough to go all the way in the postseason. But Celtics’ physical and hard defensive plays chocked the attacking duo, pressuring the supporting cast to provide maximum output. The results were obvious after the team’s struggles and lost the series 0-4.
Kyrie said that people labeled Nets as favorites but wanted them to fail – just like David and Goliath’s storyline. He expected a strong comeback next season with more realistic targets and to play their natural game. Irving and Durant have player options this offseason but are expected to stay put with the Nets and win a title to prove their decision (of joining hands in Nets) right.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)