Kyrie Irving arrived in Brooklyn by owning his failure in Boston.
The Nets’ new star opened up Friday about his tenure with the Celtics and how the death of his grandfather impacted him. The heartbreak he went through as a person, he said, hurt him as a player. It also prompted him to reassess his priorities — and put coming home to family at the top of his list.
“After he passed, basketball was the last thing on my mind,” Irving said, as he was introduced at Nets Media Day. “A lot of basketball and the joy I had for it was sucked away from me, and it was a facial expression that I carried around with me throughout the year.