For Jaylen Brown and Kyrie Irving, time heals all wounds.
It's no secret Irving didn't blend well with the Celtics' young players during his tenure in Boston. The C's needed a veteran leader alongside budding stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but Irving wasn't up for the task.
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Ahead of the Celtics' first-round playoff series vs. Irving and the Brooklyn Nets, Brown admitted he and Irving didn't get along well during their time as teammates. In a 1-on-1 with Abby Chin, he opened up about how their relationship has evolved since Irving's days in Boston.
"Off the court, me and Kyrie might have started off with a lot of bumps in the road," Brown told Chin during NBC Sports Boston's Celtics Playoff Preview Special. "But as of lately, Kyrie is somebody that I've connected with. Somebody that I call a friend, a brother. Somebody that calls me to pick my brain at this point.
"It wasn't like that when we played together. We bumped heads a lot. But it's funny now in hindsight. Kyrie, he talks to me, hits me up all the time and our relationship has grown a lot since then."
Brown isn't the only C's player to have gotten close with Irving since his departure. Tatum spoke about his own relationship with Irving while revealing the star point guard regrets some of his actions during his two tumultuous seasons with the Celtics.
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As far as the upcoming series goes, don't expect any friendly exchanges between Irving and his ex-C's teammates until the final buzzer.
"In terms of basketball, it's you vs. them. It's survival. There's no friends on the court or anything," Brown said. "You're just looking to be there for your teammates as he'll be there for his teammates, and you just play basketball. But it's definitely a competitive edge, definitely a warrior's mentality. It's us vs. everybody."
Celtics vs. Game 1 is scheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at TD Garden. Coverage begins with Celtics Pregame Live at 2:30 p.m. right here on NBC Sports Boston.
You can watch the full 1-on-1 with Jaylen Brown and Abby Chin in the video below: