Terry Rozier has not done a whole lot to hide the fact that he was unhappy with the Boston Celtics this past season, and he is not afraid to attach his name to criticism of Kyrie Irving and the team’s coaching staff.
During an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up!” Tuesday morning, Rozier spoke about the challenges that come with playing alongside Irving.
Terry Rozier sets the record straight on playing with Kyrie. (via @GetUpESPN) pic.twitter.com/RWiQJhJzKs
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) May 14, 2019
“You just have to adjust to his style. Whatever Kyrie wants done, he’s gonna show it,” Rozier said. “That’s what he wants done and you have to adjust to his style of play.”
Rozier admitted he felt the Celtics were doing a better job of adjusting to Irving’s style toward the end of the year, but he hinted that the All-Star point guard had a tendency to ignore the game plan and do what he pleased.
“We’d come in the game and it would be a different game plan than what we expected and went through in practice,” he said. “It was different.”
It’s hard to tell if Rozier’s issue was with Irving, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, or both. While he said Irving had a tendency to run the offense the way he wanted to, he also added that the coaches would leave Kyrie on the floor in situations where they had previously prepared for him to be off of it. That’s probably Rozier’s way of saying there were times he felt he should have gotten playing time over Irving.
Rozier was one of the players who enjoyed a huge postseason last year when Irving was injured, so you can understand why he may have been unhappy with his role this year. He’s set to become a restricted free agent this summer and has already hinted that he might not want to return to Boston, though that could change if Irving leaves.
