Celtics exec blames loss of Kyrie Irving for downward spiral

The Boston Celtics have been struggling this season and an executive with the organization says that the loss of Kyrie Irving has played a role.

The Boston Celtics are not the team anyone expected them to be this season. They’re currently 15-17 and in ninth place in the lackluster Eastern Conference that has seen its fair share of struggling teams this season. The C’s took a tough 127-112 loss to the Atlanta Hawks last night in a fashion that has NBA fans and critics pressing the panic button on their season.

In the game, Danilo Gallinari went berserk, hitting a franchise-record 10 3s on his way to 38 points. Trae Young, fresh off of his All-Star Game snub, also had himself a night, finishing with 33 points in the win. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with just 17 points in the loss, but the team is being criticized by former players for a lack of effort.

The Celtics have now lost eight of their last 11 games to drop two games below .500. They obviously can’t figure out what the issue is amongst themselves, and a Celtics executive thinks that the root of the problem is no longer with the team.

Celtics executive says Kyrie Irving’s absence has slowed the team’s progress.

Kyrie Irving‘s time with the Boston Celtics didn’t go as anyone expected. His premature departure sent shockwaves through the NBA and is still affecting the league today. He’s now a valued member of the Brooklyn Nets who most expect to be contenders for the championship down the stretch.

A Celtics executive says that the organization still hasn’t fully recovered from Irving’s departure.

This has to be troubling to hear for C’s fans. Irving left the organization in 2018-2019. The team has been to the conference finals three of the past four seasons but can’t seem to get over the hump.

Management will need to take more responsibility for how they’ve handled things since Irving left, but if they don’t start thinking of solutions, they could very well see their title contention window close before they secure one.