Terry Rozier Praises Kyrie Irving, Backs Celtics To Be 'Special' In 2019

Boston Celtics’ point guard Terry Rozier praised Kyrie Irving and revealed that the former Cleveland Cavaliers star is humble despite his past successes.

Irving joined the Celtics in 2017 after winning one NBA title and three straight Eastern Conference titles with the Cavaliers. He is also a five-time All-Star, one among the two in his current team — the other being Gordon Hayward in 2017.

The point guard impressed in his debut season helping the Celtics finish as the second seed in the East, but his season was cut short due to a recurrence of a knee injury. He is expected to return in time for training camp beginning in September and Rozier believes they have a “special player on their hands.”

“Kyrie is a special guy,” Rozier told reporters, as quoted on Celtics Wire. “[He] makes you feel comfortable [and] doesn’t act like a guy that’s accomplished so much. You couldn’t even tell because he’s so humble. He’s just a great guy to learn from.”

Irving’s knee issue and Marcus Smart’s injuries gave Rozier a chance to start at point guard for Celtics last season and he did not let the opportunity go waste. He played a key role in the absence of their star player to help the Celtics go all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were just one game away from making the NBA Finals.

The Celtics lost in Game 7 to LeBron James-led Cavaliers, and that showing and the return of Irving and Hayward from injury have made them one of the favorites to progress from the East this season.

The one drawback for Rozier, however, will be that his time on court will be cut short as Irving and Smart will be fully fit and are ahead of him in the packing order to start in the point guard’s position. He is not concerned about his role after making it clear that the entire team has only one goal going into the new season, get together, put in proper performances and go two steps further than last season and win Celtics’ 17th NBA title.

Rozier is certain that the team have the personnel to be “super special” during the 2018-19 season. He is hoping everyone has the same mindset, which is to ultimately hold the championship trophy aloft at the end of the campaign.

“I’m not worried about it,” he told reporters at his youth basketball clinic at Starland Sports on Saturday, as quoted by the Boston Globe. “Just trying to control what I can control. We all got one goal and that’s to win. We all get love when we win. That should be everybody’s mind-set.”

"We can be special, super special,” Rozier added. “I think you know that, I think everybody knows that. We’re good on paper, but we got to get it together, make sure everybody comes in with the same mind-set,” he added.