Much has been made of Kyrie Irving’s leadership throughout his second season with the Boston Celtics.
And a growing narrative over the course of the 82-game regular season and the nine playoff games that followed is Irving’s leadership style, or lack thereof, ultimately caused the downfall of a Celtics season that came up well shy of meeting expectations.
But addressing reporters a day after the season ended with a disappointing 116-91 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Marcus Smart came to Irving’s defense by saying claims that the superstar guard ruined the team’s chemistry, and in turn the season, weren’t justified.