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Boston Celtics CEO Reveals Kyrie Irving’s Departure Is One Of The Reasons For Team’s Recent Struggles

The entire Boston Celtics franchise had the sense that Kyrie Irving was going to stay in Boston for long, but they were wrong. Now, Irving is boasting an impressive showing with the second-seeded Brooklyn Nets, while the Celtics are currently out of the playoff picture and have now lost 10 out of their last 15 games. 

In an interview, Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck had the opportunity to assess the team and chimed in on Boston’s recent struggles. Grousbeck then revealed that the aftershocks of Kyrie Irving’s departure from the Celtics are still being felt by the team up to this date. 

In retrospect, the disconnect between the two parties surfaced in the 2019 season and the parting became official in the summer of 2019 after the Celtics lost in the second round of the playoffs. Comes as a bit of a surprise, the parting still lingers to a degree, at least to the side of the Celtics higher ups.

“We had hoped Kyrie would stay forever and lead us all the way,” he stated.

“He’s on maybe the best team on the league right now and so that’s that. That change touched off a lot of stuff because he left, we weren’t maybe able to recruit free agents in the same way, and a bit of a domino effect. But it is what it is. We went for it with Kyrie. We had a good year with him. He tried hard and then he moved on.”

"We had hoped Kyrie would stay forever and lead us all the way…that change touched off a lot of stuff"

Wyc Grousbeck on Kyrie Irving's decision to leave Boston pic.twitter.com/aiSfb8CCZd

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 24, 2021