How Kyrie Irving went from promising the Celtics he’d stay to signing with the Nets

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant are both set to become Nets, after all that.

Updated Jun 30, 2019, 9:32 PM UTC

Kyrie Irving just finished one of the most dramatic regular-season showings ... ever. It started with him committing to stay with the Boston Celtics before the first game of the year, and it ended with him doing the opposite. Irving is going to be a Brooklyn Net after agreeing to a four-year, $141 million contract to join Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan for the league’s newest superteam, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

A chaotic, disappointing year in Boston led to Irving being the Celtics’ scapegoat, and how much slack he deserves is still unclear.

Irving was at the center of every mini implosion Boston had this season. He appointed himself the leader of the team from the get-go, and that came with mixed results. Whether it was him sounding off at teammates for not getting him the ball in crunch time, or creating headlines after making amends with LeBron James, all things Celtics had Irving’s name attached.

That all ends with him walking away to an East rival.

The latest rumors

Irving’s tenure in Boston felt over before the season even was. Then, a disheartening five-game series loss to the Bucks sealed it. Now Irving will join Durant and Jordan to form one of the East’s top contenders.

June 30: Brooklyn will sign Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, per Woj.
June 29: Irving will meet with the Nets in New York on Sunday when free agency begins, and per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski “both sides are motivated to move quickly toward reaching a 4-year, $141 million deal.”
June 27: Irving is still “as much a target for the Lakers as Kawhi Leonard,” according to The New York Times’ Marc Stein. This despite all indications that the Nets are in the lead for Irving.
June 18: The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the Celtics are preparIng to lose both Irving and Al Horford. “Irving has been communicative and forthright with top Celtics officials since the season ended, with private and public signals that he will leave the organization in free agency — likely for the Brooklyn Nets.”
June 12: ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Celtics were trying to trade for Anthony Davis in hopes that he could keep Irving in Boston. That plan was foiled when the Lakers traded for Davis instead.
June 6: ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said, “Kyrie Irving is serious about the Nets -- and the Nets are serious about beating the Knicks — and rest of league — to the biggest free agents in the marketplace.”
May 25: SNY’s Anthony Puccio reported that “Kyrie Irving and his camp are strongly considering Brooklyn if he decides to leave Boston.”
May 24: ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan: “I did a little digging around and my feeling is very strongly that while LeBron and Kyrie have kissed and made up, Kyrie is not going there.”

How did we get here?

Irving sought distance from James to command his own team in the summer of 2017, and the Cavs obliged in a trade with the Celtics. Boston didn’t end up being what Irving always wanted, though. Co-star Gordon Hayward suffered a serious leg injury in 2017 that still affects him, and bickering plagued the locker room in Irving’s final season. Boston lost in seven in the East Finals in 2017-18 with Irving out due to a knee injury and didn’t come close to duplicating the feat in 2018-19 with Irving healthy.

Things turned from bad in the first half of the 2018-19 season to worse as it wore on. After a loss to the Clippers, forward Marcus Morris said, “We don’t have no attitude. We don’t have no toughness. We ain’t having fun. It’s going to be a long season.”

Then, Irving warred with reporters about rumors that a conversation at the NBA All-Star Game between him and Kevin Durant was about their impending free agency.

“Is the internet real for you in your life? It’s my life, right? It’s two people talking, having a conversation. If this was the real world would it be anybody else’s business? But it’s a video of somebody assuming what we’re talking about, right? So why would I care about it? Why does that have an impact on my life?”

The drama culminated in a 4-1 series loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals, with Irving shooting 30 percent from the field in Boston’s final four games. Now, Irving is on his way out.