Kyrie Irving out rest of season, playoffs

Celtics star Kyrie Irving will miss the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, according to a report from ESPN.

ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted Thursday afternoon that sources say Irving is out the rest of the regular season and playoffs after his surgery.

In the aftermath of left knee surgery, Boston Celtics All-Star guard Kyrie Irving will miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs, league sources told ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 5, 2018

About two weeks ago, the Celtics announced Irving was set to have surgery on his left knee to alleviate pain. Irving has been out since March 11.

>> Celtics star Kyrie Irving set for surgery on sore left knee

The team said the procedure was "minimally invasive" but never released a timetable for his return. The team said that Irving's kneecap is fully healed and structurally sound, but the tension wire was irritating his tendon.

The Celtics tweeted Thursday afternoon that Irving will undergo a procedure this weekend to remove the two screws that were implanted in his patella.

#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 took to Instagram after the news was announced to thank fans and cheer on the Celtics, saying in part: "The hardest thing to do sometimes is accept the uncontrollable things life throws at you."

View this post on Instagram

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