No longer in LeBron James' shadow, Kyrie Irving has become his own man again but is leading a team that can actually contend for a championship this time around.

The superstar point guard, who won a ring alongside James in 2016, requested a trade the following season and has been thrust into a leadership role on a very young team.

The Cs finally seem to have gotten things under control following their shaky start to the 2018-19 campaign and Kyrie is doing it all, leading from the front with the rest following suit.

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The player began the campaign with a seemingly different mindset and persons in and around the organization will claim that he has matured since his trade from Cleveland last year.

“I think when you have inner peace it makes your job a lot easier coming in and figuring things out, not getting ahead of yourself kind of wanting the future to happen now,” the guard said in an interview with The Athletic.

“You have goals that you set, you want to attain them. But I think going through it and figuring it out is the most enjoyable part. You’ve gotta enjoy the pain and suffering as much as you enjoy the happiness, and going up and having highs on the season. So just enjoying it and making sure my teammates are enjoying it.

"Make sure we’re smiling, having a great time. Just having a great time competing and doing what we love - I think that’s the best part about this.”

Al Horford, another senior player on the team, pointed out that Irving probably needed some time to adjust to his new teammates and his new role.

“I think that last season this was new for him,” the 12-year veteran said “He was getting to know our guys, he was getting to know what we were about. And yeah, he wasn’t as engaged as he is now. Like, now it’s night and day. He was still trying to lead us and things like that but it’s way different and it’s for the better of the group.”

“It’s just a respect thing,” backup point guard Rozier added. “Everybody respects him on this team. He’s been through a lot, done a lot, so I mean it’s fine to call out guys sometimes. We’re all family so it doesn’t hurt.”

What This Means

It has been a trying campaign for the Celtics. The team excelled without Irving towards the end of last season and nearly made it to the NBA Finals; however, it has been hard re-integrating him into the squad along with Gordon Hayward, who spent all of last term injured.

Things appear much easier now, though, and Irving's influence is being felt all around. Brad Stevens' men are looking like they can challenge for honors in the East again but' as we know, there's still some way to go.

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