One of the first teams impacted by the crazy NBA offseason was the Boston Celtics. The perception of the team had changed a number of times over the last season, starting with a squad full of high hopes that quickly turned to a frustrated bunch largely thought to be underachieving. That struggle came with the dissolusion of Kyrie Irving with the Celtics, a franchise he insisted to a crowd of fans that he would stay with come free agency.
But the moved up June 30 moratorium came and went this summer, and Irving chose to team up with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn. The Celtics then signed Kemba Walker, who was not given a supermax offer from the Charlotte Hornets. The swap was well-received by many Celtics fans, who saw the team lose Al Horford to the Sixers in free agency as well. But the departure of Irving and the subsequent arrival of Walker does mean what happens next with both will be closely scrutinized, given that they play the same position.
Walker, though happy with his choice, knows that many in Boston will be watching the two guards carefully. He spoke to the New York Daily News over the weekend at an event in NYC and said he knows he’ll “always” be compared to Irving no matter how successful his time in Boston is.
Walker and Irving aren’t the same player, but they have been subject to comparison ever since the former signed with Boston.
“I guess we kind of do similar things. It’s always gonna be that comparison,” Walker said. “I don’t really pay that any mind. I just try to play basketball and win games. That’s really it. Try to win games as much as possible.”
Walker’s had an emotional summer, and leaving Charlotte disappointed with their treatment of him will certainly serve as motivation for him with the Celtics. But he also made it clear that he’s excited about his new home, which he called a “perfect fit.”
“I think it was more so about the fit. It’s a perfect fit,” Walker told The News. “[Kyrie Irving] left, so there was an open spot for me. Great young talent, and they wanted me. When you have interest and when you feel wanted, that’s what people want.”
Some Celtics fans had much bigger plans for the team in free agency this summer, and so losing Irving and Horford only to get Walker and Enes Kanter may be a bit of a consolation prize. The Celtics made it clear to Walker they wanted him, and that was important in his decision. But fans in Boston and beyond won’t be able to help but watch Walker and Irving run teams in the same division and not compare their successes, both individually and with their teams.
