NBA Today: 5 Superstars who need to prove themselves in the 2019-20 season

#4 Kyrie Irving

Does Kyrie Irving have what it takes to lead a team?

Following their Cinderella run in the 2018 NBA Playoffs sans Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics fans were left drooling at the potential exploits of the franchise in the following term when they would have both of their superstars back. Add that to a supporting cast that severely overachieved in the preceding postseason and you had a championship team on paper.

With everything said and done now though, the 2018-19 season was, bluntly put, disappointing for the Cs. From talking about wanting his number to hang from the rafters at TD Garden to claiming that he didn't owe the franchise anything, Kyrie Irving was at the heart of most negative discussions regarding the 17-time NBA champions.

Leaving the tumultuous chronicles of his stay in Boston behind, which also saw Uncle Drew being referred to as dressing room cancer on multiple occasions, Kyrie Irving joined forces with Kevin Durant and signed with the Brooklyn Nets this offseason. As far as narratives go, this is perhaps the best chance that Kyrie will get to right a few wrongs.

While KD is definitely going to be the main man on the Nets roster, he is out of reckoning as far as the upcoming season is concerned. This allows Irving to show the world that contrary to what his tenure in Boston may suggest, he too can lead a franchise. For what it's worth, this was the main reason why he wanted out of Cleveland in the first place; to be the go-to man on a franchise. And now, he must do exactly that by leading Brooklyn to a deep playoff run.