Kyrie Irving is officially a member of the Boston Celtics, and on Friday morning, the team introduced its new starting point guard to the media in Beantown alongside its other major addition this offseason, Gordon Hayward. Irving has been quiet about his decision to request a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, but at one point during his presser, he gave a glimpse into why he may have wanted to leave the team.
"To be in a place like this where everyone gravitates to us as a team (not indiv)," @KyrieIrving says, "I just wanted to be a part of that."
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) September 1, 2017
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean Cleveland was a terrible place — this seems like it’s Irving praising the environment with Boston more than it’s taking a shot at the Cavaliers’ organization. He made it a point to stress this during a follow up question on the subject, saying that while he believes Boston is a better situation in terms of reaching his potential as an athlete, he viewed Cleveland as an important place where he built his foundation as a player.
"To be in a place where everyone gravitates to us as a team… I just wanted to be a part of that." -Kyrie on move to Boston pic.twitter.com/hNQGkI4AfB
— NBA TV (@NBATV) September 1, 2017
“To think about what we accomplished in Cleveland and individually as well, it bypasses the amount of moments I had with all the special people out there,” Irving said. “Me leaving there wasn’t about basketball, it was more or less creating that foundation with me in Cleveland and now taking that next step as a 25 year old evolving man and being the best basketball player I can be.”
This quote goes hand in hand with what someone within the Cavaliers’ front office told Howard Beck of Bleacher Report on Thursday. The official went unnamed, but they believed that Irving has only “scratched the surface” of his ability as a basketball player and that he’d never get the chance to fully reach his potential playing alongside LeBron James.
In the same piece, someone in Irving’s inner circle discussed how the point guard is excited to further his development in Boston. As we learned during Friday’s press conference, that statement was accurate, and Irving seems like he believes that the environment that has been fostered within the Celtics organization will help further propel him to superstardom.
