Takeaways from the Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward press conference

BOSTON — Roughly ten years after the Celtics introduced a new Big 3 in a massive press conference in the summer of 2007, we saw something similar at the TD Garden on Friday morning. Boston officially unveiled their newly acquired All-Stars in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in person for the first time in front of a packed house at the TD Garden. The pair shared the stage with Danny Ainge, Brad Stevens, Wyc Grousbeck, Steve Pagliuca and Rich Gotham in what was a half-hour Q-and-A. Plenty of ground was covered between the trade, LeBron James, the relationship with Hayward/Irving and much more, but let's examine some of the bigger storylines that came out of the session.

1. Kyrie Irving had plenty to vent about. After staying silent for virtually the entire offseason, Irving had plenty to address in his first public comments since he requested a trade from Cleveland. He covered a lot of ground between James, Cleveland, Stevens and what lies ahead in Boston. He also started the presser by sending his thoughts and prayers towards Jae Crowder's mother, who just passed away from cancer, as well as Isaiah Thomas's sister and the victims in Houston and Charlottesville. Here are a few of the highlights from his basketball thoughts, once he started addressing those matters.

On his relationship with LeBron: “I haven’t spoken to him and my intent, like I said, was for my best intentions. To look back at the amount of ground we covered in the last three-year span, or even before that because...  to really realize how special that was and how much stuff happened in that amount of time, I’d be sitting up here and telling you guys a lie if I didn’t tell you I learned so much from that guy.

“The perfection of the craft comes in a variety of forms and you watch, you ask a lot of the great players, what does it take to be great? I’ve had the unique opportunity to play with one of the greats and it was awesome. ... When you look back and you’re eternally grateful for the moments that you’ve had and shared; you’re able to put peace with that journey and start anew.

“This was a very, very challenging decision at first but after a while when you understand and you have that confidence in yourself to understand the magnitude of what you actually can accomplish and potentially can do with other great people. And now that I’m sitting here it just echoes in terms of me just being very appreciative of not only the Cleveland fans, all of Ohio, but as well Bron incorporating me into that special team that we had in Cleveland because — three Finals in a row, all the shared memories, all the individuals, (Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith), I could go down the line with the guys that I played with in Cleveland, they all know how I feel about them individually as well as the amount of love that we have for one another. The brotherhood exists ... and it will continue. That’s exactly where it is and I’m very appreciative of it.”

On Brad Stevens being a draw for him in Boston: "Yeah. You got a smart individual that you can learn the game from and be taught at the same time while growing, who doesn’t want to be a part of that? That’s just something awesome, man, that I can share knowledge as well as gain knowledge at the same time, with not only the players but the coaching staff, and that starts with our head coach."

On joining the Celtics: "Getting an opportunity to be a part of such an illustrious organization such as the Boston Celtics, I grew up watching so much different films, and I asked Danny when we were at Dinner, if I could get a few of the VHS tapes from those championship runs they had ... When you have the unique opportunity of having special people and being part of an organization like this, and you do everything possible to put themselves out there to make such a great thing happen, you’re just appreciative. I’m grateful. I can’t wait to get on the floor and maximize my potential, I just want to be around those incredible coaches and those incredible minds and those incredible individuals, and I feel like in doing that, Boston came right at the exact time and it was meant to be that way. I trust in that, and I’m glad to be here. "

2. Hayward and Irving seem like they've been tight for awhile. The duo has played together for Team USA in the past, but we got a little more information about their connection dating back a few years to when Irving recruited Hayward to join the Cavaliers back in the summer of 2014. Here's Hayward on that ordeal:

"I went to Cleveland on a visit when I was a restricted free agent and Kyrie came in and was saying how much fun it would be if I would be on the team and kinda recruiting me to go there. And then LeBron came and that kinda squashed that whole thing."

Irving himself continuously raved about the opportunity to team up with the former Jazz star.

"This is a bad dude sitting next to me," Irving declared. "He’s a bad dude. I spent about 20 minutes watching his highlights, probably like two weeks ago, just seeing where Utah was utilizing him and where he likes his spots and his post-ups and his footwork. And also he’s been working with a common guy between us which is pretty awesome in LA. Working on the game and appreciating it, and allowing him to be who he is, and never worrying about whether he’s stepping on my toes and I’m stepping on his toes, or stepping on Al’s toes, or T-Ro, or Marcus, or all these guys — we’re all in this together. We understand that a lot of the responsibility of growing this team and making this team go will predominantly at times be on us but, at the same time, we’re empowering our teammates at the same time and elevating them because this will get very real and we will be tested in, ooh,  a number of ways. I can’t wait, man."

3. Ainge didn't want to comment on the Cavs requesting more compensation to complete the deal. I tried asking Ainge about the renegotiation process over the past week after the deal was officially announced last Tuesday, but not surprisingly, the Celtics wanted to keep things in-house on the matter. It's still unclear how much bad blood (if any) there is between the two sides about how this all played out, but by declining to comment, Ainge didn't put anything to rest either.