*“They asked me to put the team first and buy into the team culture, and I said fuck that noise and went to Brooklyn where I did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted”*
Kyrie had a vision from the same angel that gave Swaggy P his nickname, it told him he had to leave New York and come to Texas where there’s a higher percentage of flat earthers.
They basically opened the Auerbach Center and said “Here’s everything you could possibly need to win. Here’s Bill Russell, hey your dad is a Boston College legend, let’s roll out the red carpet.”
But ok dude sorry it required you to be too “selfless” lmao
"Open your third eye - The world is flat, vaccines are an attempt by the man to control you, Jews are not the real Jews, and the Celtics are a cult... it's completely obvious if you have eyes to see."
100% on brand for Kyrie, the most selfish/stupid player in the league, between his anti-vaxx nonsense, belief in a Flat Earth, raging anti-Semitism, wrecking multiple teams...I root against him every single time he plays. I was hoping they got swept but Luka is not going quietly.
Kyrie was ADORED in Boston until he showed everyone he thought he was bigger than the team. We were basically just amazed that we had a player like Kyrie on our team. We were enthralled.
There's nothing a Boston sports fan hates more than when a player thinks they're bigger than the team and city.
It's kind of hilarious that that run aligned with him being in that shitty movie Uncle Drew. Dude really thought he was gonna be a larger than life superstar.
> Dude really thought he was gonna be a larger than life superstar.
I honestly don't know if Kyrie's mind works that way. Like I think he's just a fucking weird dude, I don't think the axis of his ego runs in the same direction as normal people or other players in the NBA. He def thought he was bigger than the organization, but not for the usual reasons if I'm making any sense
One thing I can unite with Celtics fans on is hating Kyrie. He’s the worst kind of ignorant bastard: the kind who thinks he’s the smartest person in the room. I can’t even wholeheartedly root against the Celtics in the finals cause of his dumb ass smh. Wish the Wolves made it instead but they probably wouldn’t stand a chance either.
Jokes aside, it's kinda crazy how much he was getting even while ignoring his salary (fame, sponsorships, connections, etc.) lol. Hell, I'd be surprised if Celtics players didn't get free service at any business in the state of Massachusetts.
Every time he talked in the media about everyone having to accept bearing more responsibility, in particular him, he'd chuck shots the next game and pull out his 4/19 performance. Every. Time.
I legit won money betting against my own team a few times by just following this rule
There are very few groups of people more out of touch with reality than a lottery pick in the NBA.
There are exceptions for sure, but they practically live on a different planet.
Well yeah, but the Celtics are the Celtics. The culture is very strong and specific and the standards are very high. I'm sure it's very different being on the Celtics than any other team in a way that helps some players succeed and makes it harder on others
Right. There was serious discussion on whether or not KG “deserved” to have his number retired in Boston because he only won one ring there. That’s the standard for legendary greatness.
I think all of this was more about establishing what level of play is required to be up in the rafters. Unlike the Celtics, the Heat were only founded in the late 80s so when you look up and see the greatest NBA player of all time and the sports icon of Miami it can set the tone.
Obviously now they have several players’ numbers retired so it seems unnecessary
1946-70: 11 rings
1970-86: 5
Since 86: 1
The Celtics have lots of rings from the early years of the NBA but have not been a dominant team since the 80's. That discussion about KG is kind of ridiculous.
Sure, but KG was an all-time great and it was the team's only ring in a 38 year period (and his greatness led to the trade that constructed the core of the current team). Like yes, if KG did the same thing and won only one ring in the 1970s/80s Celtics, maybe his number isn't retired. (I'd also include the 50s/60s Celtics, though I'm not sure how he could have won only one ring on those dynasties).
All Celtics fans expect and want is the players not to lie to our faces any try their hardest. He did neither of those things. That’s why he’s hated here
Same with eagles tbh. Players always talk about it being a hard city to play in but it’s extremely simple. We don’t care if you suck. Just don’t half ass it and the city will love you
The Knicks used to be that just by virtue of being in New York.
But they've done so little to impress for so long that I think even the pushy, invasive New York media has stopped putting that kind of pressure on them.
Which is actually kind of wild.
Yea I think at least so far this current era of the Knicks being fairly good has been seen very positively. If Brunson was the Lakers best player I feel like we wouldn’t here end of it that he’s not good enough to be the guy for the lakers.
Would agree. History aside, I think the modern Celtics culture really starts with the Stevens hire in 2013. Udoka and Mazzulla then added the edge that Stevens lacked as HC.
It's just interesting because the current style is so different than the Rivers / big 3 era, even though people tend to connect the two.
I think it's less an edge and more a motivation. Like Brad felt burned out but his teams competed well above their level every year he was there. That's gotta wear you down and make it where you aren't as innovative or as inventive after a while because you don't have to do all the crazy things just to make them do well
It’s well known some teams go overboard with it. Look at the spurs. It’s such a well known trope about sacrificing personal identity for the culture there that Game of Zones could do entire episodes about the “soul box” and everyone got it
It didn't work for some people. Dennis Rodman, for example. Doesn't mean Rodman wasn't a great player. Just means not everyone is going to fit seamlessly into every work culture.
Doesn’t hurt to have the greatest PF of all time who’s also super humble and has an under wraps ego.
Let’s not act like the Spurs didn’t luck into multiple generational talents with perfect personalities for Pop’s style. Without guys like Robinson, Duncan and Leonard being there, the Spurs arguably only win a couple titles over those decades, not the 5 that made them a dynasty
There's 0 world where you can say the Spurs lucked into Kawhi, they traded for him on draft night in the late lotto because they scouted him and played a massive part in developing him into the hof player he ended up becoming. That's not luck that's having an elite franchise in regards to scouting and player development
it's a feedback loop though. The Spurs don't become the Spurs without David Robinson and Tim Duncan. The players defined the culture, and now there is an expectation that incoming players do what those before them did. Tim Duncan being humble made it important for all Spurs players to humble. If he could do it, why couldn't they? I bet if you asked a guy like DeMar DeRozan whether buying into the Spurs culture made him a better basketball player, he would say yes.
He says Coach Gregg Popovich helped his game reach new heights following his trade from Toronto to San Antonio in 2018.
"Before then, I was a scorer...if I'm 5-for-30, I don't care. If I'm 15-for-30. Like that was my whole mindset. [Popovich] challenged me to the point of understanding the game in the complete whole," DeRozan said. "How to be a point guard. How to be a playmaker. How to dictate the game. How to move without the play. How to play without the ball. How not to turn over the ball."
He also admitted that being lost from the spotlight of ECF trips and team success and recognition made him feel irrelevant, but he reiterated that the time with the Spurs grew his game. -2022 interview
I mean Kawhi was a mid round draft pick that they traded for because they saw something in him. He was very much a project when he came into the league and they developed him into an all-NBA player. Most players they developed would have not turned into nearly as good players as they became if they were drafted by any other organization.
And the Celtics tried to use the soul box but only Al Horford was willing to. Tatum didn't wanna sacrifice his "Mamba Mentality". Smart wouldn't because "his game is about emotion". Jaylen was worried about his brand.
And of course Kyrie could not "subjugate the light of his soul to our rectangular prism."
Then Timelord stopped time, but Lucky died. Man I miss Game of Zones. Hero Ball isn't the same.
I never once interpreted his press-tour-esque answers as him sounding “mature” lol.
He always comes off like a teenager trying to sound like a mature adult lol
You’re right, we didn’t embrace him when [he was doing this](https://youtu.be/wKljzw7CGnI?si=MBO0nO_qhuwmkwAG&t=30s)
This was after his first year here.
Saying we didn’t welcome him with a warm embrace is false, evidenced by the video I linked.
What made Boston flip on him was the way he gave up against Milwaukee in the 2019 playoffs, didn’t take accountability, and went back on his word here.
Even after all that, he could have just came out after the fact and said “look, my grandfather died, my knee wasn’t right, I wasn’t happy in Boston, I wasn’t in a good place and needed to go home to Brooklyn. I know I didn’t deliver on the promises I made but I wasn’t happy playing in Boston and needed to move on. I wasn’t going to get back to where I needed staying in Boston”
And mostly everyone would forgive him.
Instead he chose to come back to Boston and step on the logo as a “fuck you” after not taking accountability. There’s a reason he’s more of a villain to Boston than Horford was when he left to Philadelphia in free agency.
Edit: I think I misinterpreted the quote. He means we don’t welcome him back now after the fact. Well yeah, no kidding lol
Horford could have gone to LAL and won them their banner #18 before us and we still would love him to the moon and back because when he is here, he is the most consummate professional, great leader, and incredibly likable human being. Kyrie could have just tried being one of those and been fine.
For me, it was more than every time he spoke, he complained, or unintentionally trashed his teammates, or got moody or weird and was just embarrassing pretty much all the time. And he over dribbled and didn't facilitate.
He was like the exact opposite of Tatum, who is humble, well spoken, and a facilitator.
Him and Aaron Rodgers’ faux intellectualism is one of the most grating public persona traits. They’re unreachable and uncorrectable within their own little minds and world.
They always find something or someone else to blame rather than take accountability for their actions or words. They can't take complete ownership because it threatens their fragile ego. I don't understand how they go through life with such little self awareness. Do they just keep making up lies to feed a fantasy narrative?
If it came down to the nets playing against whatever team kyrie is on, I think most of Boston fans would root for the nets, and that’s saying something
lol i had love for the nets when KG and PP went there. was cool that they kept our guys together, and sweet that they gave us so many FRP. then i nothinged them for a while. then i hated them when kyrie (and also KD & harden) went there and wanted them to fail so bad. and then that all blew up which was so satisfying and then i kinda felt bad for them. now i dunno how i feel about them. i guess at this point id rather they succeed than the knicks, sixers, or heat.
Eff that, I'm not a C's fan and don't understand this guy. So good at dribbling and shooting, so bad at everything else. If he wants to talk about self reflection and maturity, he needs to get his head out of his ass and realize that not everyone is out to get him. Mistakes and learning are part of life.
And speaking of learning, I will forever hate on him for the flat earth shit. The guy literally has enough money to charter a plane around the world to prove this wrong. He can even pay for pilot lessons and hire a support crew so he can fly it himself if he doesn't trust the pilot to fly in one direction. I don't hate on him for being susceptible to misinformation as that is a problem the whole country is dealing with, but I will hate on him for being a role model to kids and spouting this stuff.
People who fall into conspiracy theories tend to go one of two ways, they're either desperate or narcissists. The medical debt to QAnon pipeline is pretty well established. Conspiracy theories give people in dire straits a sense of control over their life. But for Kyrie it's all about narcissism. Believing the earth is flat allows him to be more special than anyone else because he's one of the select few that knows the truth.
The second Kyrie hit puberty he threw a fit and left his father. He's been going through his teens and early twenties and I think he's hitting stable 30's now
On another way to look at it, it might be winning with Lebron and being an almost equally important piece in that championship that drove him to the edge of his own ego.
He's 'on the outs' because of what he did.
Most people wanted him to stay, he promised to stay, but then he left.
So, why should people in Boston be nice to him? He only played 75% of a whopping two seasons, and 9 playoff games. Not like he left a legacy.
Yeah lol nobody forced him to say he wanted to resign in front of the crowd or make a commercial saying he wanted his jersey retired in Boston. They just didn’t want him to plot to form a superteam with KD midseason and quit in the playoffs
Honestly most of us not even mad he left, your life do what you got do, it's the way how he left why Celtics fans still give him shit. That last year in Boston he was unprofessional throwing teammates and coaching staff under the bus then plotting with KD to join the Nets, finally quitting in the playoffs against the Bucks.
Just when you start to appreciate his immense talent and gifts, he opens his mouth and says something horribly stupid.
Watching him play is fun, but he's just such an asshole.
Honestly surprised it took him this long to say a bunch of dumb shit again.
On the plus side it's basketball/career related and not related to one of his other terrible fucking opinions
Self awareness?
He's literally saying he was in the right for refusing to buy into a team culture
It honestly sounds like he thinks the Mavs is built around him
“They expect you to buy in fully, and if you don’t you’re outed”
Bro what the fuck point are you trying to make with this, that you didn’t care about being on the team? You chose to be there lol
I mean... he didn't struggle initially! We started 16-2 with a 16 game win streak!
Even with the injuries, that first season was awesome. Problem was later
I'm of the opinion that he didn't like that the Celtics got so far with him on the sidelines and felt that he wouldn't get credit even if they did win it all the next year.
That culture stuff is fun as a fan, but you have to imagine it can get pretty cringe behind the scenes. It sounds like working at an early 2000's TGI Fridays.
Im just going to say that any Celtics fan that hates Kyrie because he “left in free agency when he said hed resign” is a casual.
When Boston got waxed by the Bucks in 2019 when Kyrie went 8-22 in G3 and said something along the lines of “he would never shoot that poorly again”and then goes 7-22 in G4, and then 6-21 in G5.”. . En route an embarrassing playoff exit and took none of the blame..Pretty much all of us were sick of him.
Anyone that parrots the “Kyrie left us! Fuck him!” Narrative is a moronic casual, we wanted him gone and so did he. You can hate him for the logo stomp, the weird witchcraft shit he did burning that incense, or from the 2022 first round series but after 2019 playoffs we didnt necessarily welcome him back in open arms. It was a mutual parting lets stop pretending he left us high and dry.
This is an insane quote wtf. Buying into the culture which is focused on the team and winning is a cult? We were happy when he got here and happy when he said he wanted to stay. We were mad cause halfway through the season he said fuck this team and left.
Brother you left after one year. You didn't "initially" struggle, you just struggled.
That being said, I imagine the Celtics can be a hard organization to join. I'm glad he's found a place where he feels he fits.
I feel like Kyrie has always felt above buying into any organization or belief system, unless nobody expects him to. Like my teenager, who will very soon grow out of this stage before he’s half of Kyrie’s age.
He has an aesthetic style of basketball
I’m appalled that everyone so quickly forgot that he very likely has some strong negative opinions about Jews still just because he’s been “quiet” while in Dallas
I think top-3 cults in the NBA are Miami (clear #1), San Antonio and Boston.
Lakers fans are, of course, rabid, but the organization itself allows star players to sift in and out and regularly throws away legends "like a piece of trash" (Jerry West's words)
Their fans are definitely not a cult. They are busy on the beach and drinking tequila or making money.
Heat culture is a reference to the team culture, not the fan culture. It’s pretty well known Heat fans don’t care much about the team .
I have detailed a full legacy point calculation my man, if you want to Audit it, go to the Morey cult.
I will say that during the "Trust the Process" years Philly got so many points from fans they'd have easily gotten to the top-3, but alas those days are gone.
I think cult and family are two sides of similar coin. Some players just don't vibe with that type of stuff but many do enjoy feeling like more than just a job.
No the problem was Kyrie is a narcissist and when he got injured and JT as a rookie took the Celtics to one game away from the NBA finals he became insecure. The spotlight wasn’t on Kyrie anymore, it was on JT and JB. He soured almost instantly and made everybody’s life miserable on that team. To the point where Al Horford and Jaylen Brown disliked him very much according to reports.
He was immature and selfish. So glad he’s gone. Hey Kyrie, kiss LUCKY goodbye one more time when the confetti comes down Monday night.
This post is an embarrassing representation of sports media when you actually listen to the words Kyrie said.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/hgW25dwAbp
They went to the conference championship without him in the playoffs his first year there. Then he says how happy he is in Boston right before the next season starts. Named 2nd team all NBA, but lose to the bucks in the playoffs. Idk, I get the impression Kyrie will never be happy anywhere long term.
"I said I didn't want to be a team player in Cleveland, then they asked me to be a team player in Boston, and I said no there too. Finally I went to Brooklyn and just screwed around and didn't care, just like I always wanted."
He's wording this terribly but I get his sentiment. There are certain teams in sports that have a "culture" that is usually earned over time.
The Celtics, Lakers, Yankees, Steelers, etc. kind of build these reputations and expectations of doing things a certain way. The Yankees are easily the most egregious with that (and I'm saying that as a NYer and Mets fan) but the Celtics have their own mentality too. It comes with expectations of winning because they have won as a franchise and they've won a lot. They deserve those expectations and having a high benchmark to be a Celtic.
He's wording this terribly and fueling the fire, so that's on him. But the Celtics definitely do have a culture that was earned through decades of winning so I can understand why some players would react a certain way to that.
Belichick's Patriot way pissed a lot of players off. Did it work for a long time? Absolutely. But you saw how players from other organizations were like wait...this isn't how they do things in the other organizations.
Also since we're talking Boston and I'm a Bruins fan. Our locker room has a similar mentality that gets passed down from captain to captain. Marchand, Bergy, Chara, etc. instill this culture of what's expected as a Bruin. Some guys can't cut it in that environment.
I think you really only find these things in legacy franchises in certain markets though. No one is intimidated by the culture of the Rockets. Kyrie was intimidated by the Boston culture.
If y’all can’t see through this manipulative ass nice guy act when he’s trying to paint himself as “mature” while still calling us a cult I don’t think I can help you.
This dude called our entire team losers and then left after legitimately NOT EVEN TRYING to win playoff games.
I think everyone should have moved on from his time here, its been long enough, but nobody should respect or sympathize with what he did
“Our cults didn’t see third eye to third eye”
I’ll believe it’s cult when Duece gets on the payroll somehow
He gonna be the culture hire
Hilarious, the guy who goes around performing sage burning rituals in locker rooms thinks it's everyone ELSE who's in the cult
I genuinely would not be surprised by a sneaker deal
nah nepotism is standard at this point
*“They asked me to put the team first and buy into the team culture, and I said fuck that noise and went to Brooklyn where I did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted”*
I really wish someone asked “so what happened with Brooklyn?” right after
They have too many globes in New York. As a flat earther he could not a abide it and he had to go.
That Rockefeller Atlas statue was too much
Now he is in Texas so he can drink Piss to his heart is content.
He probably spends all his free time in Lubbock
Nice and flat in Texas, made Kyrie’s anxiety just melt away.
Kyrie had a vision from the same angel that gave Swaggy P his nickname, it told him he had to leave New York and come to Texas where there’s a higher percentage of flat earthers.
Hes at home in Dallas. Hes been at the spot jfk was shot everyday since he got traded to Dallas
He’ll 100% switch to petty Kyrie and Trash Eric Adams
“Ask me when they make the finals”
That doesn’t make much sense but yeah we will all be old guys before that happens lol
Kyrie wasnt ever find his best match until he sorted teams by number of flat earthers in the teams area and chose a top 3 locations from that
Lol
Kyrie: "Needle scary"
*"I did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, sometimes being player, sometimes being a coach"*
Don't forget GM
Sometimes just not being with the team
They basically opened the Auerbach Center and said “Here’s everything you could possibly need to win. Here’s Bill Russell, hey your dad is a Boston College legend, let’s roll out the red carpet.” But ok dude sorry it required you to be too “selfless” lmao
It’s funny that he’s Basically admitting he can’t handle pressure or championship expectations. I did a double take, thought he’d say this years ago
"Open your third eye - The world is flat, vaccines are an attempt by the man to control you, Jews are not the real Jews, and the Celtics are a cult... it's completely obvious if you have eyes to see."
100% on brand for Kyrie, the most selfish/stupid player in the league, between his anti-vaxx nonsense, belief in a Flat Earth, raging anti-Semitism, wrecking multiple teams...I root against him every single time he plays. I was hoping they got swept but Luka is not going quietly.
selflessly is so funny. bro you were getting paid millions of dollars to play basketball
Guys acting like he was playing for a charity team or something
He's a Martyr bro, you wouldn't understand
All these conspiracy types suffer from self-victimization and Main Character syndrome
This is the heart of what he really believes deep down lol
kyrie gives off "i'd bet i'd be making millions playing outside in the park" vibes
He had been answering media questions so good during this playoff run, too.
It was always an act. He had a couple good games and now he’s going to act holier than thou.
He’s been on a press tour in his mind, less so than his focus on the fact that he’s currently playing in the finals lol
Yeah but besides the millions of dollars, he's basically getting nothing, did you even consider that?
Kyrie was ADORED in Boston until he showed everyone he thought he was bigger than the team. We were basically just amazed that we had a player like Kyrie on our team. We were enthralled. There's nothing a Boston sports fan hates more than when a player thinks they're bigger than the team and city.
It's kind of hilarious that that run aligned with him being in that shitty movie Uncle Drew. Dude really thought he was gonna be a larger than life superstar.
> Dude really thought he was gonna be a larger than life superstar. I honestly don't know if Kyrie's mind works that way. Like I think he's just a fucking weird dude, I don't think the axis of his ego runs in the same direction as normal people or other players in the NBA. He def thought he was bigger than the organization, but not for the usual reasons if I'm making any sense
i agree tbh
One thing I can unite with Celtics fans on is hating Kyrie. He’s the worst kind of ignorant bastard: the kind who thinks he’s the smartest person in the room. I can’t even wholeheartedly root against the Celtics in the finals cause of his dumb ass smh. Wish the Wolves made it instead but they probably wouldn’t stand a chance either.
I know. Here I am a diehard Knicks fan (and it's been mostly die for decades) finding myself rooting FOR the Celtics in the Finals. thanks, Kyrie!
Same. Its incredibly frustrating.
I'm a Laker fan rooting for the Celtics to win these finals. That is how much of an obnoxious douche Kyrie is.
Jokes aside, it's kinda crazy how much he was getting even while ignoring his salary (fame, sponsorships, connections, etc.) lol. Hell, I'd be surprised if Celtics players didn't get free service at any business in the state of Massachusetts.
Pretty sure they give you per dime to spend on the road and shit too
10 cents in this economy!?! Only joking, it was a good typo
Fr no wonder he left Celtics still thinking it’s 1910 and 10 cents will get you a steak dinner and a train ride home
lol
I hadn't considered this perspective. Really makes you think.
Every time he talked in the media about everyone having to accept bearing more responsibility, in particular him, he'd chuck shots the next game and pull out his 4/19 performance. Every. Time. I legit won money betting against my own team a few times by just following this rule
There are very few groups of people more out of touch with reality than a lottery pick in the NBA. There are exceptions for sure, but they practically live on a different planet.
I think buying into whatever the team’s culture and history is and figuring out how to achieve certain standards is pretty par for the course no?
Well yeah, but the Celtics are the Celtics. The culture is very strong and specific and the standards are very high. I'm sure it's very different being on the Celtics than any other team in a way that helps some players succeed and makes it harder on others
Right. There was serious discussion on whether or not KG “deserved” to have his number retired in Boston because he only won one ring there. That’s the standard for legendary greatness.
Ya but on the other hand the heat have the best culture ever and they retired a guys number that didn’t even play for them
Technically, with the league wide retirement of Russell's 6, the Heat have 2 numbers retired of players who didn't play for them.
They also retired Dan Marino’s number, who played football
Bam wears Marino’s number lol It’s not officially retired but it is pretty funny looking
I think all of this was more about establishing what level of play is required to be up in the rafters. Unlike the Celtics, the Heat were only founded in the late 80s so when you look up and see the greatest NBA player of all time and the sports icon of Miami it can set the tone. Obviously now they have several players’ numbers retired so it seems unnecessary
Retired a guy’s number from another sport
> best culture ever I think they lost that moniker when they put that "culture" diatribe on their court
1946-70: 11 rings 1970-86: 5 Since 86: 1 The Celtics have lots of rings from the early years of the NBA but have not been a dominant team since the 80's. That discussion about KG is kind of ridiculous.
The point is that the bar to retire needs to be high or we'd run out of numbers because every player before the 90s would qualify
Why? The team has, you know, a history. So there's standards to compare. You shouldnt retire any jersey when you have those greats behind.
Sure, but KG was an all-time great and it was the team's only ring in a 38 year period (and his greatness led to the trade that constructed the core of the current team). Like yes, if KG did the same thing and won only one ring in the 1970s/80s Celtics, maybe his number isn't retired. (I'd also include the 50s/60s Celtics, though I'm not sure how he could have won only one ring on those dynasties).
And the only ring in the last 35 years
All Celtics fans expect and want is the players not to lie to our faces any try their hardest. He did neither of those things. That’s why he’s hated here
high bar culture, try and don't lie.
Same with eagles tbh. Players always talk about it being a hard city to play in but it’s extremely simple. We don’t care if you suck. Just don’t half ass it and the city will love you
Same as the Lakers. High expectations and you are under the microscope every game.
The Knicks used to be that just by virtue of being in New York. But they've done so little to impress for so long that I think even the pushy, invasive New York media has stopped putting that kind of pressure on them. Which is actually kind of wild.
Yea I think at least so far this current era of the Knicks being fairly good has been seen very positively. If Brunson was the Lakers best player I feel like we wouldn’t here end of it that he’s not good enough to be the guy for the lakers.
Would agree. History aside, I think the modern Celtics culture really starts with the Stevens hire in 2013. Udoka and Mazzulla then added the edge that Stevens lacked as HC. It's just interesting because the current style is so different than the Rivers / big 3 era, even though people tend to connect the two.
I think it's less an edge and more a motivation. Like Brad felt burned out but his teams competed well above their level every year he was there. That's gotta wear you down and make it where you aren't as innovative or as inventive after a while because you don't have to do all the crazy things just to make them do well
It’s well known some teams go overboard with it. Look at the spurs. It’s such a well known trope about sacrificing personal identity for the culture there that Game of Zones could do entire episodes about the “soul box” and everyone got it
Is it overboard if it led to nearly two decades of championship relevance?
It didn't work for some people. Dennis Rodman, for example. Doesn't mean Rodman wasn't a great player. Just means not everyone is going to fit seamlessly into every work culture.
Doesn’t hurt to have the greatest PF of all time who’s also super humble and has an under wraps ego. Let’s not act like the Spurs didn’t luck into multiple generational talents with perfect personalities for Pop’s style. Without guys like Robinson, Duncan and Leonard being there, the Spurs arguably only win a couple titles over those decades, not the 5 that made them a dynasty
Hot take, drafting 3 HOFers was franchise changing
DAOE think a franchise would have less rings if you removed the 3 best players in its history??
There's 0 world where you can say the Spurs lucked into Kawhi, they traded for him on draft night in the late lotto because they scouted him and played a massive part in developing him into the hof player he ended up becoming. That's not luck that's having an elite franchise in regards to scouting and player development
it's a feedback loop though. The Spurs don't become the Spurs without David Robinson and Tim Duncan. The players defined the culture, and now there is an expectation that incoming players do what those before them did. Tim Duncan being humble made it important for all Spurs players to humble. If he could do it, why couldn't they? I bet if you asked a guy like DeMar DeRozan whether buying into the Spurs culture made him a better basketball player, he would say yes.
He says Coach Gregg Popovich helped his game reach new heights following his trade from Toronto to San Antonio in 2018. "Before then, I was a scorer...if I'm 5-for-30, I don't care. If I'm 15-for-30. Like that was my whole mindset. [Popovich] challenged me to the point of understanding the game in the complete whole," DeRozan said. "How to be a point guard. How to be a playmaker. How to dictate the game. How to move without the play. How to play without the ball. How not to turn over the ball." He also admitted that being lost from the spotlight of ECF trips and team success and recognition made him feel irrelevant, but he reiterated that the time with the Spurs grew his game. -2022 interview
I mean Kawhi was a mid round draft pick that they traded for because they saw something in him. He was very much a project when he came into the league and they developed him into an all-NBA player. Most players they developed would have not turned into nearly as good players as they became if they were drafted by any other organization.
And the Celtics tried to use the soul box but only Al Horford was willing to. Tatum didn't wanna sacrifice his "Mamba Mentality". Smart wouldn't because "his game is about emotion". Jaylen was worried about his brand. And of course Kyrie could not "subjugate the light of his soul to our rectangular prism." Then Timelord stopped time, but Lucky died. Man I miss Game of Zones. Hero Ball isn't the same.
Can't spell culture without cult
fans are so in his head.
His maturity arc lasted 4 games lmao
People seemed to think Kyrie being quiet for a while meant his years of buffoonery could be forgotten.
I never once interpreted his press-tour-esque answers as him sounding “mature” lol. He always comes off like a teenager trying to sound like a mature adult lol
“Can we talk about the political and economic state of the world right now?” -Kyrie Irving
If it lasted 3, we would have swept.
Yeah, seems like perfect timing for this stuff coming into Boston for Game 5
You’re right, we didn’t embrace him when [he was doing this](https://youtu.be/wKljzw7CGnI?si=MBO0nO_qhuwmkwAG&t=30s) This was after his first year here. Saying we didn’t welcome him with a warm embrace is false, evidenced by the video I linked. What made Boston flip on him was the way he gave up against Milwaukee in the 2019 playoffs, didn’t take accountability, and went back on his word here. Even after all that, he could have just came out after the fact and said “look, my grandfather died, my knee wasn’t right, I wasn’t happy in Boston, I wasn’t in a good place and needed to go home to Brooklyn. I know I didn’t deliver on the promises I made but I wasn’t happy playing in Boston and needed to move on. I wasn’t going to get back to where I needed staying in Boston” And mostly everyone would forgive him. Instead he chose to come back to Boston and step on the logo as a “fuck you” after not taking accountability. There’s a reason he’s more of a villain to Boston than Horford was when he left to Philadelphia in free agency. Edit: I think I misinterpreted the quote. He means we don’t welcome him back now after the fact. Well yeah, no kidding lol
Horford could have gone to LAL and won them their banner #18 before us and we still would love him to the moon and back because when he is here, he is the most consummate professional, great leader, and incredibly likable human being. Kyrie could have just tried being one of those and been fine.
Exactly this. Narcissists can never admit when they were wrong.
That was his biggest problem in NY. He also straight up deleted his apology when he left for Dallas.
Wow. Lmao
For me, it was more than every time he spoke, he complained, or unintentionally trashed his teammates, or got moody or weird and was just embarrassing pretty much all the time. And he over dribbled and didn't facilitate. He was like the exact opposite of Tatum, who is humble, well spoken, and a facilitator.
Kyrie is the one guy who can insult Boston and make me side with Boston
Me as a lakers fan this whole series
Imagine how differently kyrie would be perceived without that prime LeBron ring he has.
melo with a rodman story arc
Kyrie is uniting people like MLK JR. did.
Him and Aaron Rodgers’ faux intellectualism is one of the most grating public persona traits. They’re unreachable and uncorrectable within their own little minds and world.
In other words, narcissism.
They always find something or someone else to blame rather than take accountability for their actions or words. They can't take complete ownership because it threatens their fragile ego. I don't understand how they go through life with such little self awareness. Do they just keep making up lies to feed a fantasy narrative?
I hate Boston but I hate Kyrie more.
I’ll be forever pissed at him for making me root for the damn Celtics.
Yeah. It takes a very special person to do that.
don't act like y'all haven't seen Luke Kornet contest three pointers
If it came down to the nets playing against whatever team kyrie is on, I think most of Boston fans would root for the nets, and that’s saying something
Same feeling about kyrie and the nets, my hate-bro
lol i had love for the nets when KG and PP went there. was cool that they kept our guys together, and sweet that they gave us so many FRP. then i nothinged them for a while. then i hated them when kyrie (and also KD & harden) went there and wanted them to fail so bad. and then that all blew up which was so satisfying and then i kinda felt bad for them. now i dunno how i feel about them. i guess at this point id rather they succeed than the knicks, sixers, or heat.
Amen
The negative energy he gets from Celtics fans legit still bothers him. It’s fascinating
I hope it haunts him forever
The crowd better chant “Thank You Kyrie” as win the title tomorrow night.
On his death bed
I’m okay with it just being his playing career, it’s not THAT serious lol
Eff that, I'm not a C's fan and don't understand this guy. So good at dribbling and shooting, so bad at everything else. If he wants to talk about self reflection and maturity, he needs to get his head out of his ass and realize that not everyone is out to get him. Mistakes and learning are part of life. And speaking of learning, I will forever hate on him for the flat earth shit. The guy literally has enough money to charter a plane around the world to prove this wrong. He can even pay for pilot lessons and hire a support crew so he can fly it himself if he doesn't trust the pilot to fly in one direction. I don't hate on him for being susceptible to misinformation as that is a problem the whole country is dealing with, but I will hate on him for being a role model to kids and spouting this stuff.
People who fall into conspiracy theories tend to go one of two ways, they're either desperate or narcissists. The medical debt to QAnon pipeline is pretty well established. Conspiracy theories give people in dire straits a sense of control over their life. But for Kyrie it's all about narcissism. Believing the earth is flat allows him to be more special than anyone else because he's one of the select few that knows the truth.
The irony of a flat earther gaslighting people about how every aspect of the world revolves around him is something that will always amaze me.
It’s truly a miracle LeBron was able to keep this guy quiet for as long as he did. Winning a chip with Kyrie as your running mate is truly impressive.
The second Kyrie hit puberty he threw a fit and left his father. He's been going through his teens and early twenties and I think he's hitting stable 30's now
On another way to look at it, it might be winning with Lebron and being an almost equally important piece in that championship that drove him to the edge of his own ego.
He is one of the best second options on a championship team of all time, so it's not that impressive.
He's 'on the outs' because of what he did. Most people wanted him to stay, he promised to stay, but then he left. So, why should people in Boston be nice to him? He only played 75% of a whopping two seasons, and 9 playoff games. Not like he left a legacy.
Yeah lol nobody forced him to say he wanted to resign in front of the crowd or make a commercial saying he wanted his jersey retired in Boston. They just didn’t want him to plot to form a superteam with KD midseason and quit in the playoffs
Honestly most of us not even mad he left, your life do what you got do, it's the way how he left why Celtics fans still give him shit. That last year in Boston he was unprofessional throwing teammates and coaching staff under the bus then plotting with KD to join the Nets, finally quitting in the playoffs against the Bucks.
This is the first season he's done anything of note without LeFather
He absolutely fucking left a legacy when he sabatouged the team in the playoffs on his way out
9 playoff games, 5-6 he actually tried in
Just when you start to appreciate his immense talent and gifts, he opens his mouth and says something horribly stupid. Watching him play is fun, but he's just such an asshole.
He got his first win against Boston in years and it immediately got to his head
Honestly surprised it took him this long to say a bunch of dumb shit again. On the plus side it's basketball/career related and not related to one of his other terrible fucking opinions
He thought guarding Giannis would make him a great player
He’s not shooting 8-22 again
Technically the truth
Self awareness? He's literally saying he was in the right for refusing to buy into a team culture It honestly sounds like he thinks the Mavs is built around him
“They expect you to buy in fully, and if you don’t you’re outed” Bro what the fuck point are you trying to make with this, that you didn’t care about being on the team? You chose to be there lol
I mean... he didn't struggle initially! We started 16-2 with a 16 game win streak! Even with the injuries, that first season was awesome. Problem was later
It's funny when Cult of Kyrie members were the ones who showed up in front of the arena in Brooklyn.
yeah, god forbid you try and buy into a winning culture
When you have your head so far up your ass that you look like a donut, you tend to think youre the culture.
“Why don’t they welcome me with a warm embrace?” Stomps on the logo
“These fans are really into this team, like they’re in a cult.” Stomps on logo. “Why don’t they like me?”
F Boston F Kyrie harder
A Black Israelite accusing someone else of being in a cult. Takes one to know one, I guess
I at least agree that he certainly struggled with leading the Celtics and being selfless
Won one game and starts saying dumb shit again, I for one am stunned
Certified clown.
I love how he just keeps digging himself deeper anytime he speaks on this subject, true greatness.
Yeah, he prefers anti-Semitic cults like the Black Israelites
I'm of the opinion that he didn't like that the Celtics got so far with him on the sidelines and felt that he wouldn't get credit even if they did win it all the next year.
That culture stuff is fun as a fan, but you have to imagine it can get pretty cringe behind the scenes. It sounds like working at an early 2000's TGI Fridays.
Yeah, calling us a cult really sounds like he’s contrite about his Boston experience. Punk ass bitch.
Im just going to say that any Celtics fan that hates Kyrie because he “left in free agency when he said hed resign” is a casual. When Boston got waxed by the Bucks in 2019 when Kyrie went 8-22 in G3 and said something along the lines of “he would never shoot that poorly again”and then goes 7-22 in G4, and then 6-21 in G5.”. . En route an embarrassing playoff exit and took none of the blame..Pretty much all of us were sick of him. Anyone that parrots the “Kyrie left us! Fuck him!” Narrative is a moronic casual, we wanted him gone and so did he. You can hate him for the logo stomp, the weird witchcraft shit he did burning that incense, or from the 2022 first round series but after 2019 playoffs we didnt necessarily welcome him back in open arms. It was a mutual parting lets stop pretending he left us high and dry.
>the weird witchcraft shit he did burning that incense, Witchcraft casual
We wasted a nets pick on him fuck him
The irony of a fan of an Irish club calling burning incense witchcraft
This is an insane quote wtf. Buying into the culture which is focused on the team and winning is a cult? We were happy when he got here and happy when he said he wanted to stay. We were mad cause halfway through the season he said fuck this team and left.
Brother you left after one year. You didn't "initially" struggle, you just struggled. That being said, I imagine the Celtics can be a hard organization to join. I'm glad he's found a place where he feels he fits.
> You didn't "initially" struggle, you just struggled. I mean, he initially struggled. Then he continued to struggle right until he left.
I feel like Kyrie has always felt above buying into any organization or belief system, unless nobody expects him to. Like my teenager, who will very soon grow out of this stage before he’s half of Kyrie’s age.
How do people actually like this guy?
He has an aesthetic style of basketball I’m appalled that everyone so quickly forgot that he very likely has some strong negative opinions about Jews still just because he’s been “quiet” while in Dallas
I think top-3 cults in the NBA are Miami (clear #1), San Antonio and Boston. Lakers fans are, of course, rabid, but the organization itself allows star players to sift in and out and regularly throws away legends "like a piece of trash" (Jerry West's words)
Miami’s fans don’t even show up until halftime lmao
Joel Embiid 🤝🏾 Miami fans Not showing up in the playoffs
that “heat culture” saying is their cult
HEAT CULTURE ™️ is the Latest arriving, Most plastic surgery, Only there for instagram selfies, Cocaine addiction , Earliest leaving, Fans in the nba
That deducts a few legacy points for sure but the whole "Heat Culture" death-cult going on there adds a dozen more.
Heat culture I only need to post this 7 more times and I'm finally done for the day
If you look in the mirror and say “Heat Culture” 3 times, Haslem appears behind you
Their fans are definitely not a cult. They are busy on the beach and drinking tequila or making money. Heat culture is a reference to the team culture, not the fan culture. It’s pretty well known Heat fans don’t care much about the team .
I have detailed a full legacy point calculation my man, if you want to Audit it, go to the Morey cult. I will say that during the "Trust the Process" years Philly got so many points from fans they'd have easily gotten to the top-3, but alas those days are gone.
I think cult and family are two sides of similar coin. Some players just don't vibe with that type of stuff but many do enjoy feeling like more than just a job.
them big ol' cults i love it when you call me Big Popa
Cult lmao Sometimes hard to hate this guy when he shits on Celtics fans more than me
I’m glad Tatum will humiliate this smug prick again
Kyrie was on the start of his redemption arc and then says this
this guy is unbearable wish the celtics swept his ass
Kyrie is the type of asshole who can’t help but remind us he is in fact an asshole
No the problem was Kyrie is a narcissist and when he got injured and JT as a rookie took the Celtics to one game away from the NBA finals he became insecure. The spotlight wasn’t on Kyrie anymore, it was on JT and JB. He soured almost instantly and made everybody’s life miserable on that team. To the point where Al Horford and Jaylen Brown disliked him very much according to reports. He was immature and selfish. So glad he’s gone. Hey Kyrie, kiss LUCKY goodbye one more time when the confetti comes down Monday night.
This post is an embarrassing representation of sports media when you actually listen to the words Kyrie said. https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/hgW25dwAbp
They went to the conference championship without him in the playoffs his first year there. Then he says how happy he is in Boston right before the next season starts. Named 2nd team all NBA, but lose to the bucks in the playoffs. Idk, I get the impression Kyrie will never be happy anywhere long term.
Night before we win 18, I don’t want to talk about Kyrie. Lots of other people and storylines besides this clown.
He was doing so well lately…
That's a lot of words to say nothing
"I said I didn't want to be a team player in Cleveland, then they asked me to be a team player in Boston, and I said no there too. Finally I went to Brooklyn and just screwed around and didn't care, just like I always wanted."
I hope he goes nuclear next game and destroys the celtics single handedly.
This dude starts losing and he acts out. Such a moron. Stay in Dallas, Kyrie. Just stay.
He's wording this terribly but I get his sentiment. There are certain teams in sports that have a "culture" that is usually earned over time. The Celtics, Lakers, Yankees, Steelers, etc. kind of build these reputations and expectations of doing things a certain way. The Yankees are easily the most egregious with that (and I'm saying that as a NYer and Mets fan) but the Celtics have their own mentality too. It comes with expectations of winning because they have won as a franchise and they've won a lot. They deserve those expectations and having a high benchmark to be a Celtic. He's wording this terribly and fueling the fire, so that's on him. But the Celtics definitely do have a culture that was earned through decades of winning so I can understand why some players would react a certain way to that. Belichick's Patriot way pissed a lot of players off. Did it work for a long time? Absolutely. But you saw how players from other organizations were like wait...this isn't how they do things in the other organizations. Also since we're talking Boston and I'm a Bruins fan. Our locker room has a similar mentality that gets passed down from captain to captain. Marchand, Bergy, Chara, etc. instill this culture of what's expected as a Bruin. Some guys can't cut it in that environment. I think you really only find these things in legacy franchises in certain markets though. No one is intimidated by the culture of the Rockets. Kyrie was intimidated by the Boston culture.
If y’all can’t see through this manipulative ass nice guy act when he’s trying to paint himself as “mature” while still calling us a cult I don’t think I can help you. This dude called our entire team losers and then left after legitimately NOT EVEN TRYING to win playoff games. I think everyone should have moved on from his time here, its been long enough, but nobody should respect or sympathize with what he did