Kyrie Irving is not quite going into hiding after his team’s season-ending loss.
Irving and the Dallas Mavericks were officially eliminated from NBA title contention with a 106-88 loss to the Boston Celtics in Monday night’s Finals game. It ended up being a gentleman’s sweep for the Celtics as they needed just five games to knock out the Mavs.
Only a few minutes after the loss, Irving took to social media with a message for fans.
“Tribe, stay together no matter what,” Irving wrote in a post to X. “Through the ups and downs, wins and losses, success and failure. Keep your head up high. This mission is bigger than us. I love you all! Hélà.”
Tribe, stay together no matter what. Through the ups and downs, wins and losses, success and failure. Keep your head up high. This mission is bigger than us. I love you all!
Hélà
— Chief Hélà (@KyrieIrving) June 18, 2024
The eight-time All-Star Irving was perhaps the most scrutinized player of the Finals and ultimately failed to live up to the occasion. He finished the five-game series with unmoving averages of 19.8 points and 5.0 assists per game on 41/28/100 shooting splits. Irving struggled with the defense of Boston’s Jrue Holiday and Derrick White and was unable to provide the consistent No. 2 production that Dallas needed next to Luka Doncic.
On top of that Irving, a former Boston Celtic, did not do himself any favors with the comments he made during the series. Irving spoke bluntly about Celtics fans on multiple occasions, opening himself up to more negative publicity that he ultimately faltered in the face of.
