HE’S BAAAAACK!
KYRIE IRVING IS BACK IN THE NBA FINALS! For Golden State Warriors fans, Irving was a MAJOR PROBLEM during the beginning of the dynasty. Irving was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers for three of the four straight NBA Finals battles.
The first year, he hurt his knee and became (along with fellow injured teammate Kevin Love) LeBron James’ get out of jail free card for the Warriors eliminating them in the 2015 NBA Finals.
The second year he was a MAJOR PROBLEM as the Cavaliers erased a 3-1 deficit and stunned the 73-win Dubs to win the 2016 title.
After the Warriors avenged themselves against those Cavs in 2017, Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics (against James’ wishes). There in Boston, Irving looked to lead his own team to the promised land.
Unfortunately for Beantown, Irving was gone after only two seasons despite pledging his loyalty to the franchise. Here’s Matt Ellentuck breaking it down in a SB Nation article entitled, “How Kyrie Irving went from promising the Celtics he’d stay to signing with the Nets”:
Kyrie Irving just finished one of the most dramatic regular-season showings … ever. It started with him committing to stay with the Boston Celtics before the first game of the year, and it ended with him doing the opposite. Irving is going to be a Brooklyn Net after agreeing to a four-year, $141 million contract to join Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan for the league’s newest superteam, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
A chaotic, disappointing year in Boston led to Irving being the Celtics’ scapegoat, and how much slack he deserves is still unclear. Irving was at the center of every mini implosion Boston had this season. He appointed himself the leader of the team from the get-go, and that came with mixed results. Whether it was him sounding off at teammates for not getting him the ball in crunch time, or creating headlines after making amends with LeBron James, all things Celtics had Irving’s name attached.
After his departure, Boston has yet to realize the championship aspirations that were birthed when he was traded to the Celtics from Cleveland. Even worse for the proud franchise, Boston fans suffered the indignity of Irving CLOWNING their logo as the Nets knocked the Celts out of the postseason.
His time with the Nets was cut short after injuries and his moral concerns over Covid mandates led to a situation where Brooklyn was ready to part ways with the star.
Clashes broke out at the Barclays Center in New York when anti-vaccine mandate protesters tried to go inside. They’re protesting in support of Kyrie Irving, who is unable to play home games with the Brooklyn Nets because he’s not Covid vaccinated. https://t.co/Abhc7RZCb8
— Andy Ngô ️ (@MrAndyNgo) October 24, 2021
“Why didn’t you play like this when you were on the Nets?”
“Thank Mayor Adams for that bro”
Kyrie apparently taking a dig at Mayor Eric Adams for his inconsistent COVID policies that caused the superstar to sit out the majority of the season. pic.twitter.com/WQLjAf72BT
— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) February 7, 2024
And now he’s back in the Finals yet again, ready to put on a show and rip somebody’s heart out as only he can. Trust me, Warriors fans know this quite well.
“Back to The Finals.” pic.twitter.com/DeJDk9HFv6
— NBA (@NBA) May 31, 2024