“We needed that humbling experience”

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving feels his team will improve after getting swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs last season.

As a guest on “The Boyz Night Podcast” with hosts KaiCenat, YourRage, and Bruce Ray, the seven-time All-Star believes the Nets can learn from their playoff struggles.

“Get ’em up. I’ve got to get them up on both ends of the floor. I’ve got to be a complete player,” Kyrie Irving told the hosts. “Coming for different hardware this year, bro. I’ve been in the lab crazy, since we got 4-0’d.”

“It was meant to happen like that. It was meant to happen like that. Motivation, bro. We needed it. We needed that humbling experience, especially going against the Celtics. It was already built in to be that matchup.

During the 2021-22 regular season, Irving appeared in just 29 games. He averaged 27.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Also, he shot 46.9% from the field and 41.8% from 3-point range.

Kyrie Irving on loss to Celtics: “We needed that humbling experience”

After refusing the COVID-19 vaccines, the guard was ineligible to participate in home games at Barclays Center. Although the 11-year veteran received clearance to play in home games in March, the Nets were still outmatched against Boston.

“So we’re going to see them [Celtics] again,” continued Kyrie Irving. “We’re going to have to. They’re going to be where they’re going to be. But those young’uns over there in Boston, bro, I got to see them grow up.”

“So to see them doing what they did last year on the Finals stage, making it that far, I’m glad they had to go through us.”

During the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs, the guard averaged 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. In Game 1, in the Nets’ 115-114 loss to the Celtics, Irving scored 39 points.

On March 15, 2022, in the Nets’ 150-108 win over the Orlando Magic, the guard scored a career-high 60 points in 45 minutes of action. Of course, he scored 41 points in the first half alone.

If the Nets are aiming to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2003, they have to block out distractions this upcoming season.

With Kevin Durant, Patty Mills, Ben Simmons, and Kyrie Irving, the Nets are more than capable of winning the Eastern Conference. Though, it’s now all a matter of consistency and team chemistry. Fans are skeptical. Can Brooklyn win a championship with Durant and Irving?