Brad Stevens, Kyrie Irving open up about their evolving relationship ahead of crucial trip

OAKLAND -- The entire Celtics team knows this season has not gone to plan. Yet, with 18 games remaining in the regular season, ahead of the team's biggest road trip of the year, there is an acceptance that everything is not lost just yet.

"Well first of all, in the big picture, I’d say there’s probably a lot of teams that would trade places with us in this season," Brad Stevens said ahead of a showdown with the Warriors on Tuesday night. "We’re still in a position where we’re going to end up having a chance to control playing in the playoffs and those types of things. At that point whatever happens happens. But the bottom line is this team would never be, or never could be, the best version of itself — maximize itself — until it really comes together.

"Those sometimes can happen in small doses, but we just need to do it consistently. These are the types of trips where you hope you can start back towards that. I don’t think this team had any chance of going to where it ultimately wanted to go without facing some adversity. We have not necessarily found ourselves by any means, but I do think if we do, we’ll count that as a good part of the path, though not a very fun one for everyone, that’s for sure."

Things have certainly been bad for Boston lately when compared to expectations, but Stevens is understandably trying to strike an optimistic tone in regards to the team's ultimate outlook. The Celtics will have a chance to right the ship in April no matter what, a luxury that a team like the Lakers won't have in all likelihood. LeBron James and company fell to the Clippers on Monday night to drop five games out of the final West playoff spot. Those squads didn't have similar expectations but the C's still have a chance to change the narrative, a luxury the Lakers won't at this point.

It's not an ideal situation but in a season full of turmoil, it's evident that the team is trying to turn the page and focus on the main positive that there is still time to right the ship. It was clearly the focus of a discussion Stevens had with Kyrie Irving after the ugly loss to the Rockets.

"I think Kyrie has obviously had an incredible year," Stevens said. "He’s a six-time All-Star, he was an All-Star again, and he was a no-brainer All-Star. I also think he has shouldered a heavy, heavy load, and there’s a lot that comes with that, and there’s a lot of stress that comes with that. And I think he would be the first to tell you that this year hasn’t gone exactly how he hoped, but this year is not over. It’s one of those things - we talked for a long time after the Houston game, and you could tell that was something that had really hit him in that moment, that there’s a lot of year left, and these will either be a part of the story that stays consistent and you’ll be able to write the story now, or these will be blips on the radar and you’ll be like, “Huh. Turned into something really good.”

Stevens later tried to downplay the meaningfulness of the specific discussion, acknowledging that it is something he does with all of his players. However, Irving opened up a bit about their relationship at Monday's practice after being asked about the head coach.

“We have a year in together, so I would hope that after a year that we were a lot closer but also he’s never coached any player like me,” Irving said. “So, like, if you think about Brad’s years of having just an established player where I’m coming from a situation where I was on the number one team competing against Brad and now I’m on his team and he’s putting me in his system, so it’s like, that’s a big transition for anyone to do. I think that a lot of NBA players that don’t realize how hard it is just to get traded or ask for a trade, that’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my career because I had to talk to management, I had to go through the whole process and it’s a hard thing to do to move forward from that. I had to pick my family up and make a transition, and I’m doing the best I can with the group I’m afforded because they’re really good guys and they’ve shown we’re capable of winning at a very high level.”

Stevens and Irving have not had any public dustups but the interactions from the huddle following the loss to the Magic in Orlando perhaps foreshadowed the frustration that has carried over for Irving now for weeks while trying to incorporate himself into Boston's system.

"We sat and talked some yesterday and then on the plane for a long time but I wouldn’t blow that out of proportion," Stevens added on Tuesday "I talk to everybody every day a lot so it’s not like a team meeting happened blah blah blah. Those are things that just happen over the course of the season quite often. But I do think the reality is we all need a place to be human and to understand that, hey, when it’s not going great what can we all do a little bit better and have a great, enjoyable experience and that’s what we’ll work on."

Whether or not that discussion influenced Irving's change in tone on Monday remains to be seen, but the underlying message that Stevens is trying to spread with this group right now seems to be taking hold. Things are bad, but the team's destiny still remains in their hands.

"Our main goal, our number one goal is to be playing late and hopefully getting to the Finals," Marcus Smart added. "We still have a chance to do that. That isn't unreachable. We still have time to fix some things down the stretch."

The opportunity begins against the defending champs on Tuesday night.