Kyrie talks about Boston departure; references depression due to grandfather’s death

[gpap]

Kyrie had some interesting quotes today during Brooklyn media day, reading what he said cause me to feel bad for him.

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/09/kyrie-irving-says-he-failed-as-boston-celtics-leader-says-death-of-his-grandfather-impacted-change-of-heart.html?fbclid=IwAR28jFzZIw40lFi4wL6vwtglQDtSk9VLQ7nnXpcyqngWonXcuPSE1rXgC08

I wish there was a way things could have been dealt with and he could still be here today. But I also can't fault a guy for wanting to be closer to home.

[18isGREATERthan72]

I will never fault Kyrie for doing what was right for him.  Absolutely NO problem with him deciding to move to another team and do his own thing, he's perfectly within his rights.

However, he also sort of admits to the fact that he didn't give himself fully to the team.  It wasn't all on him, but he was a massive part of why the team didn't achieve what it should have.

[gpap]

I will never fault Kyrie for doing what was right for him.  Absolutely NO problem with him deciding to move to another team and do his own thing, he's perfectly within his rights.

However, he also sort of admits to the fact that he didn't give himself fully to the team.  It wasn't all on him, but he was a massive part of why the team didn't achieve what it should have.

Yup, he did admit that as he should have. And glad he did

PS....thank you to the MOD who made this a separate thread. I've become a little bashful of starting threads because I'm unsure if the readers of the site will find it noteworthy or interesting.

[hpantazo]

Kudos to him for coming out and admitting his issues and how he failed the team last season. It's not easy to do that.

[Somebody]

Feel bad for him? He never said anything about his grandfather's death affecting him that much during the season, if he was hurting that much we could've given him a leave for personal reasons, instead he stayed on the team as a dour presence that ended up being the major contributor to a divided team at the end of the season. Just seems like more excuses to cover up him ditching Boston tbh, I'm losing the little respect I still have for him. I would've much preferred him saying that Boston just wasn't right for him than this load of cobwobble that is much too coherent compared to the statements he made to slate us all season long last year.

[nickagneta]

Feel bad for him? He never said anything about his grandfather's death affecting him that much during the season, if he was hurting that much we could've given him a leave for personal reasons, instead he stayed on the team as a dour presence that ended up being the major contributor to a divided team at the end of the season. Just seems like more excuses to cover up him ditching Boston tbh, I'm losing the little respect I still have for him. I would've much preferred him saying that Boston just wasn't right for him than this load of cobwobble that is much too coherent compared to the statements he made to slate us all season long last year.

I have mental illness, depression being on of a couple of issues I deal with. Everyone deals with depression differently. Most young people, won't even admit to suffering from it due to the stigma of having mental issues and not accepting that they are suffering at all. So those people just plow through hoping it just goes away, thinking it's just an emotion that's lingering and not a real medical issue like depression.

I applause Kyrie for admitting he had it and struggled to deal with it, even refusing to seek help, which is extremely normal. It doesn't excuse him for the way he acted for much of the season.

Mental illness should never be used as an excuse which I don't think he is doing here. It's good that he is acknowledging what happened, how it affected him and how it affected how he handled last year. It's good he admits he failed. The only thing I might have done differently is perhaps apologize for not realizing it sooner and seeking help so he could be the best him he could be for his team. But again, being that self aware, as well as being that informed about mental illness, is tremendously unusual at a young age, so it doesn't surprise me that he didn't seek help when it was happening.

[gpap]

Feel bad for him? He never said anything about his grandfather's death affecting him that much during the season, if he was hurting that much we could've given him a leave for personal reasons, instead he stayed on the team as a dour presence that ended up being the major contributor to a divided team at the end of the season. Just seems like more excuses to cover up him ditching Boston tbh, I'm losing the little respect I still have for him. I would've much preferred him saying that Boston just wasn't right for him than this load of cobwobble that is much too coherent compared to the statements he made to slate us all season long last year.

I have mental illness, depression being on of a couple of issues I deal with. Everyone deals with depression differently. Most young people, won't even admit to suffering from it due to the stigma of having mental issues and not accepting that they are suffering at all. So those people just plow through hoping it just goes away, thinking it's just an emotion that's lingering and not a real medical issue like depression.

I applause Kyrie for admitting he had it and struggled to deal with it, even refusing to seek help, which is extremely normal. It doesn't excuse him for the way he acted for much of the season.

Mental illness should never be used as an excuse which I don't think he is doing here. It's good that he is acknowledging what happened, how it affected him and how it affected how he handled last year. It's good he admits he failed. The only thing I might have done differently is perhaps apologize for not realizing it sooner and seeking help so he could be the best him he could be for his team. But again, being that self aware, as well as being that informed about mental illness, is tremendously unusual at a young age, so it doesn't surprise me that he didn't seek help when it was happening.

It's a good point. Though certainly logic would dictate that he could've very easily revealed this last season and made things easier for himself and those around him, it's also easy to forget he's 27.

At 27, we don't think as rationally as we do when we enter our 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.

Though you do have some very mature people that age that are already married with 2 kids, a career and a house, not everyone is the same. It also doesn't help you're playing in the NBA so you're constantly on the road, hectic schedule and never really get a chance to decompress and come to terms with what's ailing you.

I could be naive here, but I give Kyrie the benefit of the doubt.

[Somebody]

Feel bad for him? He never said anything about his grandfather's death affecting him that much during the season, if he was hurting that much we could've given him a leave for personal reasons, instead he stayed on the team as a dour presence that ended up being the major contributor to a divided team at the end of the season. Just seems like more excuses to cover up him ditching Boston tbh, I'm losing the little respect I still have for him. I would've much preferred him saying that Boston just wasn't right for him than this load of cobwobble that is much too coherent compared to the statements he made to slate us all season long last year.

I have mental illness, depression being on of a couple of issues I deal with. Everyone deals with depression differently. Most young people, won't even admit to suffering from it due to the stigma of having mental issues and not accepting that they are suffering at all. So those people just plow through hoping it just goes away, thinking it's just an emotion that's lingering and not a real medical issue like depression.

I applause Kyrie for admitting he had it and struggled to deal with it, even refusing to seek help, which is extremely normal. It doesn't excuse him for the way he acted for much of the season.

Mental illness should never be used as an excuse which I don't think he is doing here. It's good that he is acknowledging what happened, how it affected him and how it affected how he handled last year. It's good he admits he failed. The only thing I might have done differently is perhaps apologize for not realizing it sooner and seeking help so he could be the best him he could be for his team. But again, being that self aware, as well as being that informed about mental illness, is tremendously unusual at a young age, so it doesn't surprise me that he didn't seek help when it was happening.

To me this is the important part. I was impressed that Kyrie admitted that he absolutely screwed up at being a leader, but what he said overall just sounded more like "I wasn't ready and I failed, but I also had blah blah blah affecting me" to me instead of owning up to his screw up as well as shedding some light on his mental state last season. Very good post about mental illness though, TP.

[CelticSooner]

He didn’t want to be in green. The reasons why really don’t matter. The guys weird, the guys moody, and I don’t see that changing.

[dannyboy35]

  I don’t believe a word. He has ALWAYS messed with people’s heads. Always messed with teammates. He’s a crappy person. Nets won’t make the playoffs. He’ll cause trouble and also find a way out of playing Celtics at TD Garden while we have a better team.

[Walker Wiggle]

I believe Kyrie's grandfather's passing had a significant impact on him, and I am open to believing that Kyrie believes that that trauma is the reason he left Boston. But I don't believe that was the root cause of why he left. Sorry. Some people convince themselves of things to prevent them from dealing with hard truths, and I think that's what's happened here.

The hard truth is that Kyrie started talking to Nets players, and to Kevin Durant, very early on in the Celtics' 2018-19 season. There was no reporting whatsoever of Kyrie suffering a loss in the family, or even that he was going through personal struggles, in the innumerable stories about his frayed relationships with the coach and teammates.

There is little to no explanation for why Kyrie felt that living in Brooklyn, NY during a portion of the calendar year would be better for his mental health than living in Boston, MA. Keep in mind that this is the same person who, about one year ago when asked about the possibility of him going "back home" to play in New York, responded: "I'm from New Jersey, just to be clear."

The most likely explanation is that Kyrie's team struggled out the gate in the 2018-19 regular season, he saw a long and difficult road ahead with a high probability of failure (as in, the team probably wasn't going to the NBA finals), and he started looking for an escape hatch.

That doesn't making him a bad person, and it doesn't mean he's some sort backstabber or something. That type of language is way too harsh. This is the man's life and he can do what he pleases. But the truth remains that he effectively made a promise to the organization and his teammates and then backtracked quickly thereafter. At least give him credit for acknowledging that he didn't put in the effort that the rest of the team deserved out of him. But that's about it.

[Big333223]

He says he failed his teammates which is kind of nice to hear because obviously that's something that we all felt watching last season. But he still turned and ran away to a new city rather than try to face the music and improve. I won't be surprised at all if Kyrie's time in Brooklyn looks a lot like his time in Boston.

[tenn_smoothie]

Oh Boy - This guy and his gobbly-gook double talk just never end.

I'm very empathetic to someone dealing with emotional pain, how difficult it can be and how confusing it is to find help, if we can even admit that we can't handle many things in life all by ourselves. But that is not what I am hearing from Irving. Just sounds like the same mumbo jumbo and all the comments about him feeling an inclusive family atmosphere in Brooklyn are just more of his usual platitudes about his latest fresh start. I would have some respect if Irving would have kept his personal comments brief, expressed his regret over his time in Boston and talked about basketball after that.

His most ridiculous comment, which was the one that reminded me how self-important and pretentious this guy is, was his declaration to safeguard the health and well-being of his close friend, Kevin Durant, "And I'm going to be the protector of that all throughout the year and not allowing anyone to infiltrate that circle." Huh ?

[RockinRyA]

Yeah I recognize the some signs. I have those too. It doesnt excusr him but I believe in what he is saying, mostly because I have them too.

[cons]

I predict this ends badly for Brooklyn. What an idiot