Kyrie Irving and the state of consternation of the Celtics

The Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round, then knocked out the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks, with crushing loot for the first game, their most comprehensive effort of the season. It seemed that Kyrie had been proven prophetic.

Then Boston was eliminated in the second game. Irving missed 14 of his 18 shots, performing a nondescript nine-point performance. He was unperturbed and added briskly, "That's what I signed for."

While the Celtics were going through a tumultuous regular season that threatened to derail their aspirations for the title, they often felt like the embodiment of the NBA's misery. A myriad of problems have clouded Boston's chemistry; young players chomping to prove that they were relegated to lesser roles, the mental and physical tests of veteran Gordon Hayward. And there's the ever-evolving psyche of MVP talent, Irving, whose self-discovery journey was like a dizzying ride that was plunging and climbing, the rest of the team in tow, with few of them. Other choice than to attach and hold well.

Irving says her team has never been so painful as it has appeared, and that her path to harmony has not been an instant solution.

"Life is not as difficult as we do," he says.

Early MarchNBA commissioner Adam Silver could have chosen a number of topics as keynote speaker at the MIT Sloan Analytics conference, but one question puzzled him: why are NBA players not happier?

"For the outside world, they see the celebrity, the money, all the pitfalls that go with it," Silver said. "[Our players] are the best in the world at what they do and people think: "How is it possible that they can complain?" Some of these players come from difficult circumstances and some are incredibly isolated. "

The following week, Charles Barkley, a member of the Hall of Fame, criticized Silver's comments as "the stupidest thing I've ever heard from a commissioner." They earn 20, $ 40 or $ 40 million a year, they work six, seven months a year, they stay in the best hotels in the world, they have no problem. "

On the contrary, insists Rozier.

"More money, more problems."

Negativity infiltrates the locker room in many forms, especially among mainstream social media.

"Kyrie was the first person to tell me," Whatever it is [players] says everyone looks, "said Rozier. "And when you look, you will see positive things and negative things from people who have never met you. "That's why Kyrie removed all this information from his phone." It bothered him. "

Boston Basketball's president, Danny Ainge, would like to find a way to convince players to eliminate social media from their basketball lives.

"I'm afraid they're rushing to their cell phones after the game," Ainge said. "Every time I'm in the training room, I see them stuck to their phones, checking what people are saying."

"I do not understand, and if it's a potential cause of sadness, then it's not worth it."

Another cause is a secular conflict – lack of playing time. Rozier, who was a playoff star in 2018 while Irving was recovering from a knee operation, saw his shots and shots dwindle in a season as he approached free placement.

"I had the impression of going from the passenger seat to the trunk," says Rozier with an ironic smile. "Everyone tells you:" Do not think about the contract, do not think about the money. "I always say to myself," I'll get what I deserve someday. Maybe not today, but someday. "

"You realize you should not be comparing yourself to others and their situations," says Brown. "I started to focus on myself, I tried not to let my emotions control me, it was sometimes difficult because the media was putting a lot of pressure on us. people are running with it. "

Irving, an independent thinker who has freely expressed his opinions – and has sometimes paid the price for his unfiltered candidacy – says that he has finished wanting to explain it.

"To find happiness, you have to find balance in all of this," Irving says. "So, I'm not going to continue talking about what works for me, or what's problematic for me, knowing that I'm not proving anything to anyone because the work is done by me.

"I do not need to show anyone what I do as a leader, neither as a person nor as a basketball player, I will miss some of the throws in some games. throws in games, it's the ups and downs of a season, I do not invest in the category "Oh, it's his team, he has to do more, he has to intensify" It's just stupid. "

KYRIE IRVING A never had to worry about playing time. He submitted the most complete season of his career, averaging 23.8 points, a career high of 6.9 assists and strong defensive statistics that would have had to leave him in ecstasy.

Still, he told ESPN that being a leader was more complicated than he had ever imagined. At the start of the season, he adopted a passive-aggressive stance with his younger teammates, in a manner surprisingly similar to the tactics of LeBron James that infuriated Irving in Cleveland.

In January, Brown called Irving about it, wondering aloud why only young players were chosen for an unequal game.

"It was not really a repression," Brown says. "In fact, I agree with what Kyrie said, I just thought it was unfair to isolate the younger guys – we all had to do better."

Irving's attempt to navigate the scrutiny was and remains a work in progress.

"We put a lot of emphasis on the bad things," Irving told ESPN. "People make it as if basketball is the most important thing in our lives. [deal with] the money and expectations and everything that comes with being in a professional environment.

"I fought it all this season, it's not enough to have everything if you do not have the joy of playing the game."

Friday (HE hours)
• Bucks at the Celtics | 20h | ESPN
• Nuggets at Blazers | 22:30. | ESPN

Saturday
• Rocket Warriors | 20:30. | ABC

Sunday
• Raptors at 76ers | 15:30. | ABC

Al Horford suspects that his point of view is different since he was born in the Dominican Republic without the comfort offered to his American counterparts. He is very grateful for his opportunity in the NBA. The center with the option of a player this summer says that he would play basketball for free.

"Everyone wants everything," notes Horford. "Hey, I want to be the first All-NBA team, but I've been very lucky that when I was [at Florida] under Billy Donovan, I quickly understood that if I played for the team, it would give me more joy and more success than if I concentrated on myself. "

Jaylen Brown tried to follow Horford's advice, but when he weakened early in the season, he began to press, to force his fault, further aggravating his misfortunes. He lost his starting position, a blow to an ambitious third-year player.

"Sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves," admits Brown. "You expect things to go in a certain way, and when they do not, that voice behind your head starts to get stronger and stronger."

Irving watched his young teammates blunt roles they had designated, aspiring for more. He pushed them, but, he says, also sympathized with their frustrations.

"I think this whole thing is flawed, by the way the project is established, the coaches and the GMs, as well as the people who get fired and traded," says Irving.

"When you're thinking of putting a leather basketball in a rim, and how many other complicated things are happening because of this simple thing, with our families and our lives, you can understand why people are getting debate. "

ROZIER IDOLISE IRVING long before they became teammates, but he had trouble understanding why the future Hall of Fame, which apparently had everything, was fighting.

"I love Kyrie," says Rozier. "But there were times this year when I wanted to tell him:" Listen, you have no reason to stress. You are Kyrie Irving. I am the one who has reasons to stress. "

Money and stature had nothing to do with it. Irving hates being defined simply in terms of basketball. He is also passionate about his support for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which goes back to the roots of his dead mother, that he is his brilliant handshake.

"I had the impression of being so invested in basketball that it did me a disservice because it made me pay attention to the bad things," he said. said Irving. "Like the opinions of people, and things with other people who have nothing to do with me.

"Everyone is falling prey to it – rankings, top players, commercial rumors, all the fake basketball analysts and coaches who know everything – I will not let anyone else dictate my happiness."

Celtics players admit that earlier in the season, Irving 's mood swings often left them in the locker room. Stevens and Ainge talked about it with their best player, and he promised to be more aware. "His positive outlook has recently made a huge difference," said Rozier.

Horford noticed a shift from all his teammates. The anguish of blows and minutes has receded with the approach of the post-season. As Rozier notes: "The playoffs look like a reset button – it's all about the Celtics, not the payment, the contract year, or the fact that you're at the end of the bench."

Certainly, all this renewed solidarity raises a question: would not this united commitment have always existed?

"Looking back, we could have been a lot better," admits Brown. "We were trying to understand that, not just us in the locker room, but Brad and the reception too.