Boston Celtics: 3 regular season goals for Kyrie Irving in 2018-19

3. Stay healthy

Yeah, I know this sounds obvious, and a little generic, but it’s true, especially in Irving’s case. Remember all of the knee issues Derrick Rose had to deal with after his improbable MVP run back in 2010? Sure, those were definitely more serious, but who says that same situation couldn’t happen to Kyrie Irving?

Low key, Kyrie has been pretty injury-prone. He had a right toe issue in his only season with Duke, then had the patellar problem in 2015 when he was still in Cleveland.

On top of that, he just had surgery on that knee back in March, and although he’s healthy now, one can never know what may happen in the future. Just ask Hayward.

Much like Rose, Irving uses his whole body to finish at the rim, as shown by his unrelenting attacking of the basket. He has the same athleticism too. The good news is unlike the Rose situation, Irving actually has great players to back him up and relieve him of any large offensive load. His lower body problems are still worth noting, and re-injuring another part of his leg may not be out of the question.

If Irving does stay healthy, it would only help the Boston Celtics case of making an NBA Finals appearance in June, most likely against the dynastic Golden State Warriors.