Wyc Grousbeck: Celtics have positive relationship with Kyrie despite his departure

The Celtics have been careful not to throw any shade towards any of their departing free agents on their way out the door and that trend continued on Tuesday as Wyc Grousbeck spent time in studio on the Greg Hill Show on WEEI. The Celtics co-owner spoke at length about Kyrie Irving for the first time in the interview to shed more light on his departure. A few highlights from the interview:

On when Kyrie changed his mind on Boston: "In the beginning, he said, 'I want to come back. I want to retire my jersey here if we win. He promised the fans. As the season went on, something changed. By February, we thought he was at risk for not coming back and then in June, that’s what happened...“I think that he wanted to go back down, his family is in New York and he wanted to be back down there, and we’re going to gear up for the Nets. There are good feelings, but good competitive feelings.”

On how things ended with Irving: “Well it just wasn’t a general era of happiness around the team at the end,” Grousbeck said. “You know, he just sent me a text the other day out of the blue and it was a really thoughtful and nice text, lengthy text kind of, and I responded and we had a nice back and forth. I mean that doesn’t always happen with players, and he’s a guy that wants to have a good relationship. We do have a good relationship, he and the Celtics organization have a positive relationship. We wish him kind of the best, except when he’s playing us, but he’s a good guy, he tried hard, he gave us two years, and we’re going to move forward.”

On Kemba Walker: “Kemba is a phenomenal player- 25 points a game last year, I think he’s a three-time All Star, and just a great person. A glow, you know, an aura, of positivity, and he’s super excited to be here,” Grousbeck said. “He chose us, he had multiple other places he could’ve gone. He wanted to talk about the banners and a ring and what they look like, and how it feels to be a Celtic. He’s super excited.”

On Enes Kanter: “Then Enes Kanter chose us. (He) had bigger offers elsewhere, more money elsewhere, but you know, chose us to come play for Brad and to really have a meaningful role on a good team,”