Kyrie Irving's Honest Quote About Boston Celtics Tenure Went Viral

Kyrie Irving spoke to ESPN after the Dallas Mavericks won Game 5.

Mar 1, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) on the court against the Boston Celtics in the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

On Thursday evening, Kyrie Irving led the Dallas Mavericks to a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves (124-103) in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

They are now headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since the 2011 season.

Irving finished the victory with 36 points, four rebounds and five assists while shooting 14/27 from the field and 4/10 from the three-point range in 40 minutes of playing time.

After the game, Irving spoke to ESPN's Scott Scott Van Pelt and was asked about facing his former team in the Finals.

Irving: "I had a rough time there when I was in Boston. Again, just dealing with death in my family and dealing with a lot of off-court stuff that I wasn't ready to handle. Now that I'm in a great place to be able to vocalize how I'm feeling, I'm ready to go back into Boston and have fun with my teammates. I know we're gonna be locked in. We're going against a great Boston team that has earned their way to the NBA Finals."

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Irving spent just two years with the Celtics and was an All-Star in both seasons.

That said, the team never got out of the second round and Irving left the team for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019.

Mar 29, 2019; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts after a play against the Indiana Pacers in the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavs are the fifth seed (50-32), while the Celtics are the first seed (64-18).

Game 1 of the series will be on June 6 in Boston.

During the regular season, the Celtics won both matchups.