Kyrie Irving received plenty of criticism throughout the season for the way he handled questions about his impending free agency, as well as the comments about his younger teammates. The criticism continued, and has even gotten louder, in the aftermath of their lackluster five-game series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Earlier this week, fellow Duke alum Grant Hill called out Kyrie for being "disengaged" and failing to live up the expectations set forth by Celtics greats over their storied franchise history. Former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins has also weighed in on Irving's tenure in Boston, and he was equally as critical of the All Star point guard's leadership.
Speaking with Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd, Perkins described Kyrie as a "bad leader" and someone who can't carry his own team.
"In this series, I think Kyrie, the way he went about it was disrespectful to the city of Boston, was disrespectful to the organization. And he didn't represent what Celtic pride is all about. I spent my first eight-and-a-half years of my career in Boston, and those fans are unbelievable, the organization is unbelievable, the history of the franchise in itself is unbelievable.
"And the way Kyrie went about it, 'OK, yeah, I struggled. OK, on to the next game.' Kinda like the, 'I don't care' attitude. Just basically, throughout the whole process, I thought he had got it, but he was just a bad leader and he didn't represent what Celtic pride was about. It was proven, in my opinion, he's not a Batman. He's a great player, Kyrie is an elite player, but he's not a Batman. He's a Batman when he's on the team with LeBron (James), but he's not a Batman. He can't carry his own team."
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