Okay, let’s do this.
Kyrie Irving played his last 2018-2019 game for the Boston Celtics on March 11th. After that loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Celtics finished 9-6 without Irving. They then made an improbable run through the first two rounds of the playoffs and came within one win of the NBA Finals, all without their star point guard.
Pundits around the league started to raise the obvious (if seemingly absurd) question: are the Boston Celtics better off without Kyrie Irving?
I sat down to write this article trying to have a completely open mind.