For the Dallas Mavericks to defeat his old team, the Boston Celtics, in the 2024 NBA Finals, Kyrie Irving had to play at a consistently high calibre. But Irving fell short when the Mavs needed him most, with the exception of Game 3 and the first part of Game 4.

Monday night at TD Garden, the Celtics defeated the Mavericks 106-88 to seal the series and claim the league’s leading 18th championship.

In 41 minutes, Irving only managed 15 points on 5 of 16 shooting, nine assists, and three rebounds. In three of the five games, he was restricted to fewer than 20 points, and his 3-point percentage was only 27.6%.

During the last moments of Game 5, Irving approached many players from the Boston Celtics and head coach Joe Mazzulla to offer his congratulations. The Mavericks then began to pull their starters, and he got up to the bench.

What was Irving thinking at that very moment?

“Well, it was sentimental in any case. Every series, to be honest, was emotional for me because I wasn’t sure how it would play out or how we would handle a little bit of misfortune,” Irving said to the media following the game.

“We eventually faced a team that defeated us handily, and we were unable to answer to several of their runs and perform at a high level. I therefore shook hands with each person as a show of respect for their experience. They know what it’s like to be up here answering questions about what the upcoming year has in store, having gone through a fantastic five years of going to Game 7s or losing in the Finals. I believe they utilised it all as fuel.

“They truly kept their heads down and didn’t pay heed to any of the individual or personal praises; they were in good health. They simply joined together as a unit, in my opinion, and accepted that everyone was excellent in their own roles and gave their all. The Celtics are the ideal model for us this season because of everything they have faced in recent years, so I believe we have learned more from this series than anything else about what it takes to not only succeed at this level but also to go back there.”

Irving singled out Jaylen Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, and Jayson Tatum, two prominent Celtics players, for their contributions to the team’s championship run.

Irving remarked, “Yeah, seeing that trophy in his hands was big-time,” in reference to Brown’s MVP victory. “I believe that he and JT ought to have parted ways, but those two me𝚗 in particular have sort of behaved like students and are now teaching on their own.

“So to see them accomplish — see them accomplish that, I’m really proud and also extremely motivated to get back to this position in the next few years with my guys and be able to win this thing.”

Irving was booed by Celtics supporters a lot during this series. After departing the team as a free agent in 2019, he rose to prominence as one of Boston sports’ most infamous villains.

In the end, the Celtics prevailed over Irving on the largest stage of the sport to win their first title since 2008.