Nine years ago today, one of the NBA’s biggest offseason trades became official when the Cleveland Cavaliers sent Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics.
The deal, completed on August 30, 2017 after concerns about Isaiah Thomas’ injured hip delayed its finalization, sent Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, Brooklyn’s unprotected 2018 first-round pick and an additional 2020 second-round pick to Cleveland. The centerpiece coming back to Boston was Irving, then a 25-year-old four-time All-Star and only 14 months removed from hitting one of the most famous shots in NBA Finals history.
At the time, the move looked like the beginning of Boston’s next championship era.
Irving had requested a trade out of Cleveland after six seasons with the Cavaliers and wanted the opportunity to operate outside LeBron James’ shadow. Boston appeared to offer an ideal destination: a young roster, an accomplished front office, Brad Stevens on the sideline and emerging talents such as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown around him.
His first season initially reinforced that optimism. Irving averaged 24.4 points and 5.1 assists while Boston went 55-27, but knee problems ended his season in March. Without him, the young Celtics made an unexpected run all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland. The success of that group without Irving would later become an important subplot in what followed.
The second season was where the partnership began to unravel.
Before the 2018-19 season, Irving publicly told Celtics fans that he intended to re-sign with Boston if they would have him. Instead, a team widely viewed as one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference became defined by uneven performances, chemistry concerns and growing frustration. Boston finished 49-33 and was eliminated by Milwaukee in five games in the second round.
Irving’s individual numbers remained excellent; 23.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game while earning All-NBA Second Team honors, but the season increasingly became about leadership, roles and whether Boston’s collection of talent actually functioned better together than it had the previous postseason.
His relationship with the franchise and its fan base deteriorated after his departure.
Irving left for the Brooklyn Nets in free agency in July 2019 after only two seasons with Boston.
Things became even more hostile when Irving returned to Boston as an opponent. Celtics fans repeatedly booed him, and the tension reached its most memorable point during Brooklyn’s 2022 first-round playoff series against Boston. Irving was fined $50,000 by the NBA after directing an obscene gesture toward fans during Game 1, while he later spoke openly about what he considered hostility and disrespect from the crowd.
The relationship with the organization itself also became complicated in retrospect. Boston had traded away the enormously popular Thomas to acquire Irving, expecting the younger superstar to become a long-term centerpiece. Instead, he played only 127 regular-season games for the Celtics and appeared in just two postseason runs, missing Boston’s 2018 playoff run entirely.
Perhaps the greatest irony is what happened after he left.
Rather than Irving becoming the player who carried Boston into its next era, Tatum and Brown became the pillars of the franchise. The Celtics returned to the Finals in 2022 and eventually won the 2024 NBA championship with the young core that had once been expected to develop around Irving.
