SACRAMENTO – As evidenced by his comments following the Celtics’ win over Golden State Tuesday night, Kyrie Irving is trying hard to appreciate his team and shut out all of the peripheral issues that have bothered him so much over the last two months.
But one of the Celtics star’s most vocal critics, TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, finds it hard to understand Irving’s distress. From what Barkley can see, Irving has the world “in the palm of his hand.”
“Kyrie Irving, I don’t know him that well, he seems like a nice kid, but I’ve never seen a person so miserable,” Barkley said Wednesday morning on ESPN. “He’s got the world in the palm of his hand, he’s going to make $40 or $50 million a year for the next 10 years, he’s in movies, but he’s one of the most miserable people I’ve ever seen.
“He wanted to go to Boston to have his own team. But what a lot of these guys don’t understand is, when you’re a star you get all the credit but also all the blame,” he said. “That’s not right. That’s just the way it is. Nobody goes to Jaylen Brown or the Morris brothers – they’re going to come to Kyrie Irving after every game. That’s the responsibility of being a star.”
Barkley went on to explain that when people questioned why his old Phoenix teams didn’t win the NBA title, they didn’t question center Mark West. All fingers pointed at Barkley, which he explained is simply part of the job.
But Barkley wasn’t finished there. Though Irving, who was to sit out Wednesday’s game against the Kings with a left thight contusion, and Kevin Durant have reportedly discussed uniting this summer in New York, the TNT analyst can’t conceive of those two players in particular surviving in Manhattan.
“They’re saying I can’t get away from this. No, dude, you’re never going to get away from this,” Barkley said of the protestations from both players concerning their plight with the media. “If I’m a New York Knicks fan I’m leery, because if you can’t take the heat in Cleveland, Boston and San Francisco, you’re not going to take it in New York. Both of these guys have handled it awful. They could have said Day 1 I’m not going to talk about free agency and it would have been over, but they talk about it every single day, and when you guys ask them about it every single day they complain about it.
“Should have been handled on the first day of training camp, and said I’m not going to talk about free agency, and if I’m asked I’m going to say next question and keep it moving,” he said. “They’ve both handled it awful.
“Those two guys in New York City would be must-see TV every week, especially if they’re losing.”
Plenty of talk
Irving went on at length Tuesday night about conversations with Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge – the former on the team flight to San Francisco following Sunday’s demoralizing loss to Houston – and how both men have helped him see the bright side of his team.
“It gets a little overwhelming, but this is just the business I’m in,” said Irving. “The business part of it is what makes it terrible for me, honestly dealing with all this (stuff). I’m going to be honest with you guys. The basketball part, I have to keep that fun. That’s where I’m great, that’s where I love to play and be around my teammates, that’s what makes me happy. The business part of it is going to be the business.
“Personal side of being out here with my teammates is the only thing that should matter,” he said. “It wasn’t really a change of perspective, it was letting the guard down completely and just not thinking I’m at odds with everybody. It’s not a competition in this locker room, it’s a competition out there. That’s the most important thing. Talking with Brad was very helpful, talking with Danny (Ainge) was very helpful, and just expressing myself rather than keeping it all in. That made it very easy to just go out and just have fun playing basketball.”
Numbers game
Stat guru Dick Lipe has produced a number of head-turning numbers from Tuesday night’s win over Golden State.
The Celtics’ 73 first-half points were their most in the first half of a road game since Feb. 21, 1995 at Phoenix (also 73 in a 129-121 win). Seventy-three was also the Celtics’ second highest scoring first half of season. They had 74 against the Clippers in a Feb. 9 game famous for the fact they blew an 18-point lead.
It was the first time since 1992 at Charlotte that the Celtics have had at least 105 points through three quarters on the road.
