{"id":122035,"date":"2025-02-05T12:33:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T17:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=122035"},"modified":"2025-02-05T12:54:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T17:54:41","slug":"kyrie-reveals-big-4-superteam-plans-ruined-2018-19-celtics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/05\/kyrie-reveals-big-4-superteam-plans-ruined-2018-19-celtics\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyrie Reveals ‘Big 4’ Superteam Plans Ruined 2018-19 Celtics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyrie Irving<\/a> recently revealed<\/a> that the 2018-19<\/a> Boston Celtics<\/a> had grand superteam ambitions. The team envisioned forming a superteam featuring Irving, Anthony Davis<\/a>, Kevin Durant<\/a>, and a young Jayson Tatum<\/a>. Former Celtics president Danny Ainge attempted to trade for Davis, and Boston had previously pursued Durant in 2016. Had these moves worked, the Celtics could have built an unstoppable powerhouse.<\/p>\n

Kyrie Reveals ‘Big 4’ Superteam Plans Ruined 2018-19 Celtics<\/h2>\n

But things did not go as planned. Trade rumors spread, and Boston’s locker room fractured. The team never acquired Davis or Durant, and instead of reaching new heights, the Celtics collapsed.<\/p>\n

How Trade Rumors Destroyed the Locker Room<\/h3>\n

Irving admitted that trade rumors destabilized the team. While neither Tatum nor Jaylen Brown<\/a> was reportedly involved, young players still felt the impact. Once they learned that the front office was exploring major deals, team chemistry suffered.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur locker room splintered after that,\u201d Irving said<\/a>, via ESPN<\/em>. \u201cOnce they found out, our season started going in a whole different way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boston, once considered a championship contender, became dysfunctional. The Celtics<\/a> struggled with internal conflict and inconsistent performances. Their season ended in disappointment\u2014a second-round playoff exit.<\/p>\n

Kyrie\u2019s Exit and the Celtics\u2019 Future Success<\/h3>\n

After that turbulent season, Irving left for the Brooklyn Nets<\/a>. His departure ended any lingering hopes of forming the envisioned superteam. Boston, however, rebounded quickly.<\/p>\n

With Tatum and Brown as their franchise cornerstones, the Celtics reached four of the next five Eastern Conference finals. In 2024, they finally won an NBA championship, defeating Irving and the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> in the Finals. The young players that Boston refused to trade developed into title-winning stars.<\/p>\n

Tatum Over Brown: A Subtle Hint?<\/h3>\n

One interesting detail from Irving\u2019s comments was his focus on Tatum rather than Brown. He spoke about keeping Tatum and letting him grow, but he never mentioned Brown in that same context. This omission raises questions.<\/p>\n

Was Brown involved in trade talks for Davis or Durant? Irving\u2019s wording suggests that Tatum, not Brown, was the player Boston prioritized. While hindsight confirms Tatum as the superior player, this perspective was not as clear in 2018. The Celtics<\/a> may have been more willing to part with Brown in their pursuit of a superteam.<\/p>\n

What Could Have Been<\/h3>\n

Irving, Davis, and Durant never joined forces in Boston. Instead, they took separate paths, and the Celtics built a title-winning team around their young stars.<\/p>\n

Now, years later, Irving and Davis finally share a locker room in Dallas. However, their reunion comes under surprising circumstances. The Mavericks recently shocked the NBA by trading Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a>, shifting the team\u2019s future dramatically. This deal reportedly blindsided all players involved despite it being the first ever of its kind-two All-NBA players being traded midseason.<\/p>\n

Irving\u2019s comments offer a rare behind-the-scenes look at a team that failed to meet expectations. His revelations confirm that high-stakes trade rumors can damage team chemistry. Had Boston executed its vision, the NBA landscape might have looked very different today. The rafters at the TD Garden could have had a few more banners.<\/p>\n

Kyrie Irving recently revealed that the 2018-19 Boston Celtics had grand superteam ambitions. The team envisioned forming a superteam featuring Irving, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, and a young Jayson Tatum. Former Celtics president Danny Ainge attempted to trade for Davis, and Boston had previously pursued Durant in 2016. Had these moves worked, the Celtics could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":122085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,5,3],"tags":[240,512,1591,979,450,798,69,406,1133,4053,4774],"class_list":["post-122035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-news","tag-anthony-davis","tag-danny-ainge","tag-eastern-conference-finals","tag-espn","tag-jaylen-brown","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-kevin-durant","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba-champion","tag-rumors"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122035"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122089,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122035\/revisions\/122089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}