Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving to miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs

What's the story?

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported and the Boston Celtics later confirmed that All-Star guard Kyrie Irving will miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs in the wake of a knee surgery.

In case you didn't know...

On August 22, 2017, Kyrie Irving was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics in a deal that included Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and a 2018 first-round draft pick being sent to Cleveland.

The heart of the matter

The Celtics just recently made an official announcement on Thursday afternoon where they confirmed he'll miss the regular season and playoffs and Irving will have another procedure on his knee to remove two screws.

#NEBHInjuryReport Kyrie Irving will undergo a procedure this Saturday to remove two screws implanted in his patella from an injury suffered during the 2015 NBA Finals.

He is expected to make a full recovery in 4-5 months. https://t.co/WKQfPlUZ0u
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 5, 2018

Irving underwent a procedure on March 24th to remove a tension wire in his knee. That wire was placed in 2015 to repair a fractured patella tendon.

Kyrie posted the following on his Instagram account shortly after the announcement:

The hardest thing to do sometimes is accept the uncontrollable things life throws at you. You try consistently to learn, grow, and prepare everyday to equip your mind, body, and spirit with tools to deal with some of those things, but I feel when those moments arise they all give you a sense of unfulfillment, simply because it puts some of your professional journey and goals on a brief hold. It's simply a test of your perseverance and Will, to be present, even in the wake of what's going on. In this case, finding out I have an infection in my knee is definitely a moment that I now accept and move past without holding on to the all the what ifs, proving the nay-Sayers completely f***ing wrong, and accomplishing the goals I've set out for the team and myself. This season was only a snapshot of what's to come from me. Trust Me. "The journey back to the top of Mt. Everest continues." #StandingRockSiouxTribe Let's go Celtics!! Celtics fans, I look forward to hearing how loud it gets in the TD Garden during the playoffs and experiencing how intense the environment gets. Thank you all!

A post shared by Kyrie Irving (@kyrieirving) on Apr 5, 2018 at 10:38am PDT

In his first season with Boston, Irving averaged 24.4 points per game, 5.1 assists per game, and 3.8 rebounds per game during the 60 games he played this season. His play led the Celtics to the top of the Eastern Conference midway through the season where they lost star forward Gordon Hayward in the first game of the season.

The Celtics are currently in second place in the East three games behind the leading Toronto Raptors and five games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers.

What's next?

The Boston Celtics (53-25) have four games left in the 2017-18 season and face the Chicago Bulls (27-51) next on Friday evening. While they are safe from falling lower than the second seed, there is a slim chance they could surpass Toronto if the Raptors were to have a collapse.

Author's take

As a Celtics fan, this is definitely disheartening news. With Irving adding to the mounting injuries in the team, it is going to be tough for the Celtics to advance far in the NBA Playoffs. Now is the time to look forward to next year when Irving and Hayward will hopefully be on the court together for many games.