2018-19 NBA season: 5 stars with a point to prove on injury comebacks

#4 Kyrie Irving

Boston Celtics v New York Knicks

This section of fans is obviously in the minority now that Irving has led the Celtics on a run to the #2 seed in the east, but there was a significant chunk of fans who questioned whether Uncle Drew could take over a team that won basketball games on the regular and put it over the top.

Infection within his right knee meant that Irving missed out on a fairytale playoff run for the Celtics in 2018 when they came within one game of making their first Finals appearance in 8 seasons. The same naysayers have now found the voice to chime in with takes that Kyrie wasn't vital to the Celtics' success as they very nearly made the Finals without him playing.

In my mind, it won't take long for them to once again be proved woefully wrong, but Irving does have the burden of being the best player on the best roster in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics are already looked upon as favourites to make the Finals from their Conference with the departure of LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers, and anything less than that would mean that these questions will continue to be associated with Irving for at least a year more.

Irving will no doubt be another dominant scorer once he takes the floor for Celtics at tip-off on the 16th October 2018. But the questions about him have now shifted to the postseason, and we will have to wait 7 more months to find the answer to that question.