Kyrie Irving Was Reportedly 'Not Interested' In Signing Basketballs For Charity

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Kyrie Irving era in Boston will forever be remembered as one of the largest disappointments in Celtics franchise history. His acquisition, along with the signing of Gordon Hayward, was supposed to signal the start of a championship-level run of success for Boston. Instead, the Celtics didn't even reach an NBA Finals, and nearly the entire roster is in a state of flux.

And with Irving now set to depart Boston for either New York or L.A., ESPN's Jackie MacMullan has written a story that tried to uncover exactly where things went wrong with the 2018-19 Celtics.

While the story takes a comprehensive look at the Celtics' problem and makes sure to not single out Irving as the one to blame, there was one particular nugget that stood out above the rest. And it does not look great for Irving.

MacMullan wrote:

At the completion of the regular season, the team set up 100 balls in a room for their charitable partners. Everyone signed the balls except Irving. When pressed to do it, say team sources, he was neither aggressive nor confrontational. He merely said, "No, I'm not interested in that."

That moment certainly contrasts with another moment from the past season, when Irving handed $240 in cash to a homeless man in Houston. The video went viral on TMZ.

"That's just who I am," Irving said at the time, per the Boston Herald. "I don't do it for looks or anything like that. I saw him when I was coming back from shooting in the morning and told him I had him next time when I was coming out. I'm pretty sure he was going to be waiting there for me, and I just had to bless that man. I'm really afforded a lot in this life that I play the game the game that I love. I just love giving back. I told you my object is to heal the world. "

MacMullan also wrote that the Celtics did their best to keep Irving happy through his two years in Boston.

They afforded him several perks of stardom, including assigning a security guard to his table during team charity functions and allowing him to occasionally fly separately from the team when he had outside commitments. Much like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who still aren't clear on all the reasons why Irving soured on them, the Celtics remain puzzled exactly how their prized player became so disenchanted so quickly.

While those tidbits don't shine the greatest light on Irving, MacMullan also looked into a point of the season that initially looked like a negative for Irving but actually was not the best moment for the team's younger players.

MacMullan said that after the Celtics arrived in Miami at 2 a.m. in between games on back-to-back nights, "some of the young players" hit the Miami clubs for some late-night partying. Irving did not attend and "was irked" that his teammates made that decision. The Celtics ended up losing 115-99 that next night in Miami, a game during which Marcus Morris and Jaylen Brown had to be separated from each other during a timeout.

MacMullan said that Irving was putting up shots in the Miami practice gym after that game, "hoping some of his teammates who had played so poorly might join him," but no players did.

Two nights later, Irving reacted to a missed final shot from Jayson Tatum with some obvious disgust:

While Irving's reaction in that moment may not have been ideal, MacMullan's story at least provides some context for the scenario the Celtics found themselves in as a team at that time.

In any case, we're like to learn more about the disappointing Irving era as it officially unravels in the coming days, with Irving set to sign with any team of his choosing in July.

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• Boston Celtics
• Kyrie Irving
• NBA