The basketball Gods aligned the NBA Finals to be between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks, giving the fans a real treat to see them battle for a championship with built-in storylines and drama surrounding both teams.

On one hand, the Celtics defeated Irving in the Finals, feeling vindicated after the mess he left after telling the organization and their fans he planned to re-sign with the team.

Irving went on to destroy the remaining time he had in Boston, along with his image and the team, on his path to Brooklyn with his friend Kevin Durant.

It’s worth noting that Irving’s presence is what pushed Al Horford out the door in 2019 to sign a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. He later said that if he knew Boston was going to sign Kemba Walker, perhaps his decision would’ve been different.

On the other hand, the Celtics played against a team in the Mavericks that once had Kristaps Porzingis, but they traded him to Washington for being unable to find a way to utilize both him and Luka Dončić together.

Trading Porzingis to Washington was a low-blow, basketball’s desolate location, for players like Porzingis who are at the top of the league in their positions.

Porzingis worked hard in Washington and put together the best season of his career, catching the eyes of Celtics GM Brad Stevens who knew his team needed to add a real game changer to get over the top to win a championship.

He averaged 23.2 points per game on 49.8 percent shooting, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 65 games in 2022-23- the most he’s played since 2016-17, his second season in the league.

For this Celtics group to defeat Irving, a former teammate that once said it’s hard to play with “young players” and made it more challenging for them to grow into the All-Stars that they’ve become after he left, is the cherry on top of the sundae for them.

The same can be said for Porzingis, defeating a former team of his that didn’t believe in what he could bring to the court next to a superstar in Dončić. He went on to become the best post player in the NBA and the Celtics accentuated that feature of his game to improve their team.

For the last five years, the saga between Irving and the Celtics traveled to Brooklyn, when he stomped on the Celtics logo at center court in Game 4 of the 2021 playoffs. Irving’s had a 1-13 record against his former team since doing this.

It’s worth mentioning that Irving has changed since he was traded to Dallas. He expressed he was going through a lot in his personal life and he acknowledged that he didn’t manage it the best way in his time in Boston and Brooklyn.

I think the Celtics as an organization and the fans can finally close the Kyrie Irving chapter and move on.

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