Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving feels the team will improve after being swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs last season.
As a guest on “The Boyz Night Podcast” with Kaysenath, Urrage and Bruce Ray, the seven-time All-Star believes the Nets can learn from their playoff struggles.
“They were raised. I have to pick it up on both floors. I have to be a complete player,” Kyrie Irving told his hosts. “It’s coming to different hardware this year, bro, I’m going crazy in the lab because we’re 4-0’d.”
“It was meant to be. It was meant to be. Motivation, bro. We needed it. We needed that humbling experience, especially against the Celtics. It was already built in to make that matchup.”
During the 2021-22 regular season, Irving appeared in just 29 games. He averaged 27.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He also shot 46.9% from the field and 41.8% from 3-point range.
Kyrie Irving on loss to Celtics: “We need that humbling experience”
The guard was ineligible for home games at the Barclays Center after refusing a Covid-19 vaccination. Even though the 11-year veteran was cleared to play back-to-back games in March, the Nets still competed against Boston.
“So we’re going to see them. [Celtics] Again,” Kyrie Irving continued. “We have to do it. They will be where they will be. But those young people in Boston, brother, I’ve seen them grow up.
“So to see them do what they did last year on the final stage, I’m glad they’ve had to go through us until then.”
The first-round guard in the 2022 NBA Playoffs averaged 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. Irving scored 39 points in Game 1 of the Nets’ 115-114 loss to the Celtics.
In the year On March 15, 2022, the guard scored a game-high 60 points in 45 minutes of action in the Nets’ 150-108 win over the Orlando Magic. Of course, he scored 41 points in the first half alone.
If the Nets are aiming to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2003, they will need to block distractions this upcoming season.
With Kevin Durant, Patty Mills, Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving, the Nets have more than enough potential to win the Eastern Conference. However, now it’s all about consistency and team chemistry. Fans are skeptical. Can Brooklyn win a championship with Durant and Irving?
