It would appear from the outside looking in that the Celtics are imploding. Everything that major sports media outlets are putting out tell me that Kyrie is becoming a toxic locker room presence and Gordon Hayward might never be back to his all-star potential. What a complete 180 from the beginning of the season where Kyrie seemed to be everything Celtics fans had hoped for, embracing the city of Boston “if you’ll have me.” Now it’s looking more and more apparent that we’ve had just about enough of him. Kyrie Irving needs a team where he’s the star, and the players around him look up to him. He’s a big personality, and that doesn’t exactly fit in on Causeway Street, not for extended periods of time anyway. Kyrie wants to be relied on, and that doesn’t quite work when you also have Gordon Hayward, Al Horford, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, and Marcus Morris. On paper, that’s a scary roster, but only if they’re all willing to work together.
The thing that made the 2008 Celtics a dominant team was their extreme willingness to pick each other up and not let losses ruin chemistry. They had embraced a philosophy called “Ubuntu” which essentially meant everyone was all in for one goal. Everyone would help each other out no matter the circumstances. This year’s Boston Celtics couldn’t appear to be further from that idea.
Boston currently sits 10th in the entire league, and 5th in the Eastern Conference, where everyone thought they would be dominant. In their last 10 games, the C’s are 3-7, and hold a collective 38-26 record.
Do I think Brad Stevens has lost control of his squad? Maybe. Is this season fixable? Time will tell, but it’s not looking super promising. I think the Celtics will make the playoffs, and I do think that they will be hard to beat in a best-of-seven series, but it all comes down to that Ubuntu philosophy, and if they can find it again.

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