We're all hammering Kyrie for his failures in everything from leadership, to his play on the court, to his performance off the court, and rightfully so. He wanted the limelight, he told us all wait for the playoffs, he was going to take care of it all, and he didn't, so he deserves the criticism. But let's not forget he's been here for TWO years, not one.
He missed the playoffs last season but he was here up through till Game 67 - March 11, 2018. At that point Boston had a 46-21 record which was 2nd in the East to Toronto who were 49-17. Just to show how far ahead we and Toronto were at that point, Indiana were 3rd at 39-28, Cleveland were 38-28 in 4th spot, Philly was 36-28 with a bunch of other teams (Washington, Miami) just behind them. He was a big part of how we got to the playoffs with a high seed in the first place, even if he was injured before it.
My memory is hazy but I can't remember people being glad that Kyrie got injured because he was a team cancer. In fact I don't really remember too many negative things said about Kyrie back then. I remember him talking a lot about team and being a lot more humble. He spearheaded our 16-0 run early in the season. It's only THIS year that all the negativity came out, accompanying our average start to the season. That was when he started criticizing young teammates, talking about lack of experience, etc.
Maybe he got insecure because he got injured and the team ended up getting to the ECF without him. (I thought that may have been why he committed verbally early - he wanted to feel wanted and loved? Who knows?) Maybe they stopped listening to him as much and he felt the need to overcompensate by belittling their experience. Maybe last year there weren't many expectations because it was pretty much a new team and nobody expected them to gel immediately. Maybe the questions about his free agency got to him this season. But something changed between last year and this year - both in terms of his public persona and the way he was perceived.
Thoughts?