Kyrie Irving isn’t doing himself any favors with his play or words

Kyrie Irving on his recent bad shooting stretch: "who cares?…."

He goes on to talk about the Bucks defense and matching their aggressiveness:

"for me, the 22 shots…I should've shot 30" pic.twitter.com/3SbkVbx9ZX

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 7, 2019

I want to like Kyrie Irving. I really do. He’s a phenomenal talent. But damn, he’s absolutely horrible behind the microphone.

Here’s what I hear when I listen to this postgame interview:

“Waaaaah, they’re paying extra attention to me. It’s too hard! But I should still be shooting more even though I can’t put it in the ocean.”

Kyrie touted his championship pedigree as he publicly called out teammates this season. I didn’t like it but accepted it because his play on the court was stellar.

Near the end of the regular season, Irving dismissed the team’s subpar play by reminding us the playoffs were all that mattered. He assured us everything would be fine because he was here.

Well here we are and nothing is okay – not his play, not his leadership, not his body language, not his comments.

Irving isn’t the sole reason the Celtics are down 3-1. Jayson Tatum is painfully inconsistent. Gordon Hayward, Mr. Invisible, is getting outplayed by Pat freakin’ Connaughton. And in a surprise to no one, Terry Rozier remains an unmitigated disaster.

But only one of them talks a wildly confident game. There’s an old saying – if you’re going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.

Irving just might walk out of Boston. The list of people who think he’s staying gets shorter by the second:

"He's done in Boston … [his] teammates will help him pack."

—@JalenRose on Kyrie Irving pic.twitter.com/00UEzMPYyl

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 7, 2019

Great players can bounce back after disastrous playoff appearances. Just look at Dame Lillard one year after getting swept by New Orleans.

Despite the ups and downs of the regular season, I was adamant that signing Kyrie to a long-term contract was in the best interest of the Celtics. Now, I have my doubts.