While it might be an era many Boston Celtics fans would prefer to forget, the story of Kyrie Irving's exit to join a Brooklyn Nets superteam is a window into some uncomfortable truths about the city and a subset of the team's fans. And while certainly no stranger to self-created controversies through his communicative style and mercurial persona, there's still quite a lot of ties between the former Celtic and several contemporary Boston players. To simply focus on broken promises and over-the-top gestures in questionable taste misses much of a story about today's NBA and even the Celtics that should be told.

To that end, former Bleacher Report and Esquire editor Matt Sullivan wrote a new book detailing Irving's exit from Boston to form the Nets as we know them in the present, touching on how franchise icons like Bill Russell helped shape his decision to decamp. Sullivan's book, "Can't Knock The Hustle" also deals extensively with activism in light of the broader societal upheaval taking place as a backdrop to the so-called "Disney Bubble," which of course was inseparable from Jaylen Brown's activism and voice. Join us on a special episode of the Celtics Lab with your usual hosts Cam Tabatabaie, Justin Quinn, and Alex Goldberg. We take a deep dive into Sullivan's recently-released book, the stories behind it, and how it intersects with issues much bigger than basketball -- and be sure to stick around to the end of our conversation.

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