Kyrie Irving has no hard feelings on his downfall with the Brooklyn Nets in the hands of the Boston Celtics last postseason.
Irving stated that they needed the motivating defeat as a “humbling experience,” as he looks forward to facing his former club again next time.
As such, he is glad that the young guns of the Cs made it far to reach the NBA Finals.
“We got 4-0’d my G, we got 4-0’d. It was meant to happen like that. Motivation bro. We needed that humbling experience, especially going against the Celtics. It was already built to be that matchup. We’re gonna see them again, we’re gonna have to. They’re gonna be where they’re gonna be.
“But those youngins over there in Boston, bro, I got to see them grow up. So to see them do what they did last year on the Finals stage, making it that far, I’m glad they had to go through us.”
In the accumulation of their turbulent season marred by injuries and conflicts, the Nets found themselves at the bottom of the qualified teams within the Eastern Conference bracket of the 2022 playoffs, only to encounter the young and gritty Celtics team in the first-round.
In what could be an expected competitive bout, Boston shocked the world and pulverized Brooklyn en route to an empathic four-game sweep.
Still, the Nets have put up a strong fight amid their crushing series loss. The Celtics swept them with total margin of victory of +4.5 – the third smallest margin in a four-game sweep within the league’s record books.
Following a dramatic offseason which turned out to be a reconnection from the embattled sides, it is enticing to see how the Nets will make a statement and bounce back from notoriety and shortcomings for the past few years.
With both Joe Harris and Ben Simmons returning, plus Kevin Durant pledging his recommitment for now, Brooklyn appears solid to compete on paper.
