When it was reported that Kyrie Irving would miss time with left knee surgery, one could assume that eventually the terrible news was going to come down that Irving would be out for the playoffs and crush the Boston Celtics spirits with the force of an Escalade placed upon ones chest.
Rather than draw out the suspense and distract the Celtics from what will be a challenging playoffs without any of the All-Star pieces they were counting on at the beginning of the season, Boston has decided to just keep it real and admit that Kyrie will be missing the 2018 playoffs.
NBA.com reports, “This Saturday, Celtics guard Kyrie Irving will undergo a procedure to remove two screws implanted in his left patella after the patellar fracture he suffered during the NBA Finals in 2015. Following a mid-March procedure to remove a tension wire that had been implanted at the same time as the screws, pathology indicated the presence of a bacterial infection at the site of the hardware. To ensure that no infection remains in the knee, the screws will be removed. The fracture in Irvings patella has completely healed, and his knee remains structurally sound. He is expected to make a full recovery in 4-5 months.”
More best laid plans of mice and men foiled by the unpredictable tandem of fate and misfortune.
Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter
In the aftermath of left knee surgery, Boston Celtics All-Star guard Kyrie Irving will miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs, league sources told ESPN.
The Celtics team that will be entering the playoffs is far from the one GM Danny Ainge envisioned when he stockpiled his draft picks, acquired Gordon Hayward, stole Kyrie Irving and brought on power newbies in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Ainge and the city of Boston had sights set on dethroning Cleveland and bringing championship glory back to the Celtics 10 years after The Big Three — Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and newly crowned Hall of Famer Ray Allen — squashed mighty Kobe to secure NBA supremacy.
Injuries have ravaged that plan and changed the face of these NBA playoffs completely, opening the door for some new faces to walk through and grasp the opportunity.
Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter
Story on ESPN: Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving will miss the rest of the season. https://t.co/SDoIyKMtKl
Early in the season when the Celtics were flying high, Kyrie was getting MVP props and LeBron was struggling with a Cleveland franchise that was sinking and suffering from Kyries sudden offseason exit, everyone assumed Kyrie got the better end of the deal and bested LeBron at his own game of stick and move.
The Shadow League on Twitter
Isaiah Thomas should have known he was going to be gone after this happened last night. https://t.co/yBQ2uF13z9
As we enter the playoffs, we see that LeBron is looking like the King in this situation. He has a loaded squad with an almost totally new engine and those potential inhibitors to another trip to the NBA Finals are dropping like flies.
This is terrible for Kyrie who also had such high hopes for this season and definitely didnt want to be sitting on the sidelines watching LeBron do damage in the playoffs. Its funny how things work out. No One could see this coming. Everyone saw a win for Kyrie and a rare “L” for LeBron midway through the season, but the unpredictability of sports wins again.
