As the Boston Celtics continue to navigate towards their quest for the Eastern Conference crown, the defined roles of their abundance of talented players are still largely up in the air.
We’ve seen two of their opening day starters in Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward be relegated to coming off the bench as head coach Brad Stevens continue to shuffle his rotations. However, one player that remains uneasy about his role is point guard and franchise centerpiece Kyrie Irving. After their tough loss to the Milwaukee Bucks which was immediately followed by a meeting, Irving voiced his frustrations with his current playing time.
Irving: “Truth is, like, I’m not necessarily playing the minutes that I want, the role I would want, the role, that selfishly, I would want for myself. That all goes in the back burner in terms of being patient with what I have to do to grow as a leader of this team.”
— Clevis Murray (@ClevisMurray) December 22, 2018
While Kyrie Irving is obviously Boston’s focal point offensively, their loaded guard rotation makes it tough for him to receive as many minutes as he would like. For example, Irving played less than 30 minutes in their recent victory over Charlotte while backup Terry Rozier finished with 26 himself, though those numbers figure to be different if it hadn’t been a blowout.
Along with fighting Rozier for minutes, there is also Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown to account for in Boston’s stable of young guards. With so much talent at nearly ever position, plenty of Celtics players have been forced to alter their roles this season and Irving is certainly no exception.
Of course, Gordon Hayward hasn’t been near his usual self this season while second-year forward Jayson Tatum has also suffered a drop-off as he accustoms himself to being just another option instead of the go-to guy like he was for much of last year’s playoffs.
Irving’s contract situation is also one to monitor, as his deal expires at season’s end. While he has expressed his desire to remain a Celtic, it remains to be seen if their current inconsistent play and his capped role will have any bearing on his ultimate decision.
