According To Kyrie Irving He Considered Swinging On Payton Pritchard After He Kept Making Half Court Shots During The Finals

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

I think it's safe to say that for the rest of his NBA career, Kyrie Irving will always be public enemy #1 when he returns to Boston. I certainly understand why, given everything that happened between how he left and then the whole stomping on Lucky thing and everything in between. The thing is, while I can't speak for anyone else and don't really have a problem if you still despise Kyrie with every fiber of your being, personally so much time has gone by that I don't really give a shit about the whole Kyrie situation at this point. Part of it is because it was so long ago, part of it is because we've seen the Celts knock him out of the playoffs both as a Net and then in the Finals as a Maverick, but also part of it is because in the years since he's basically admitted he handled everything like an asshole and was in the wrong. 

Had the Celts not had that postseason success against him in 2022 and then again in 2024, I'd probably feel differently, but it does feel like the Celts ultimately won the war. That's why I think indifference is the best way I could describe how I feel now. It's amazing what winning can do to a perspective and in the end, the Celts were better for it.

I bring all this up because during a live stream with Jaylen Brown, I couldn't help but laugh at Kyrie's comments about Payton Pritchard during those 2024 Finals

God those shots were so awesome. Let's just take a quick second and relive that magic again because once is absolutely not enough

The one in Game 5 was when I think we all knew the Celts were about to become champions. In that moment, we were all Jayson Tatum

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Good times, good times. I hope to be back there one day. 

But anyway, back to Kyrie. Of course he thought about swinging at Payton Pritchard after he buried two prayer halfcourt shots, one of which basically sealed the Finals. I'm sure every single Mavs fan felt that exact same way, and honestly, it's completely normal in that moment. I know exactly how Kyrie must have been feeling in those moments after having experienced this exact same bullshit in 2022

So I get it. You could tell immediately after the heave in Game 5 that it broke the Mavs for the rest of the game. Al Horford even talked about it in his post title presser. The players could feel like that shot was the death blow, and I imagine as a player for the Mavericks, that had to be pretty frustrating. You were already getting belt to ass the entire series, and then here comes one of the craziest shots ever in a Finals game to bury you. I'd want to swing too. 

Can you imagine if Kyrie actually did take a swing? For starters, Payton Pritchard is a beast, so don't let his size fool you. I'd love his chances in a fight against Kyrie. But the chaos that would have ensued? We're talking Malice At The Palace for sure. With how hated Kyrie is in that building? That would have been wild. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and we can all just look back and laugh at it now, but man that would have been something had it actually happened.