The Nets sweeping Boston in the first round was more than just humbling. It was also inspiring.
At least according to Kyrie Irving, the playoff drubbing went exactly as it was supposed to, and it was exactly what the Nets needed to drive this season.
“Get up. I’ve got to lift them on both ends of the floor. I have to be a complete player. There’s another piece of hardware coming this year. Ever since I went 4-0, I’ve never been in a lab. I’m obsessed with it,” said Irving.boys night podcast,” in the way it should be before adding three times that the sweep happened. “It was meant to be like that.”
Irving has mostly kept a low profile this offseason, but he spoke with hosts Kaicena, Your Lage, and Bruce Ray on a podcast that aired Sunday. One-sided loss against former Celtics teammate It was as inevitable as it was beneficial.
“It was meant to be like that,” said Irving. “Motivation, mate. I needed it. I needed a humbling experience, especially against the Celtics.
“So we’re going to see them again. We’ll have to. They’re going to be where they’re going. But the young boys there in Boston, brothers, I know they’re going to grow up.” So I’m glad they had to pass us to see them get that far, like they did on the final stage last year.”
Those youngsters are All-Star Wings Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He played alongside Irving for two years at his TD Garden, but was at times frustrated by his leadership. Irving’s tenure didn’t go well with the Celtics, but Irving, whose father played for Boston College and spent a good amount of time growing up in Boston, reiterated his positive feelings about Boston.
“I had a great time in Boston, bro. I’ve been going to college basketball camp at Boston University since I was probably six years old. My family was always there. I spent a lot of time there.” Irving said. “But when I played there, I met his wife there and settled in. So I have a lot of good memories.
last season Things didn’t go as Irving and Nets hoped.
Brooklyn was overwhelmed by Boston, the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals, and the Nets entered a chaotic offseason.
Irving learned that the full-max deal he was offered last summer was no longer on the table before missing two-thirds of the season for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He and the Nets couldn’t compromise, so on June 30, he opted in for the final year of his contract, $36.5 million.
A few days later, Kevin Durant asked for a trade, rock the NBA.
Durant eventually relented, though, and he, Irving, and Ben Simmons are now considered Eastern Conference contenders. They will face the conference defending champions his four times.
The Nets will come to prove Irving’s theory correct — assuming they can stay healthy.
“It’s all that matters. It’s the only thing that matters,” Irving said. “All the hypotheses that come out when no one is healthy and not 100%. … I played 29 games and played very few home games. But things happen, and I had to stand on something bigger than that.”
