Kyrie Irving's leadership abilities have again become a subject of criticism following the Celtics' abysmal season-ending loss to the Bucks.
While Marcus Smart stood up for Irving by calling it "bulls---" to blame him for the C's struggles, at least one of Irving's teammates doesn't have the same empathy.
According to Jeff Goodman of Stadium, an anonymous Celtics player said earlier this season that “everyone respects [Irving's] talent, but he's hard to play with. It’s all about him.”
Irving didn't exactly win anyone over with his performance in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The C's guard shot 35.6 percent from the field in the series (21.9 percent from three-point range) and looked disconnected from the action for much of Game 5.
The anonymous Celtics player wasn't the only member of the organization to criticize Irving to Goodman. Another anonymous C's employee had some harsh words.
“He takes the air out of the locker room,” they told Goodman. “And you just never know what you’re going to get with him.”
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Now that the Celtics' season has come to an end, all eyes are on Irving as he awaits the start of free agency. Just don't ask him about it until July 1.
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