Tag: Kyrie Irving

Anthony Davis NOT Traded Before Deadline. Lakers Now Salty as Celtics Are Very Much in Play.

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Good. I for one am tired of the Lakers just getting superstars in their prime simply because they want them. I have dealt with players not wanting to come to Boston for my entire life because its cold like 9 months out of the year. So for a team in the Pelicans to just flip the bird right in Magic and LeBron’s face brings me great joy.

And now the Lakers are saltyyy.

HAHAHA

You can literally hear LeBron’s voice coming through Windhorst’s face with this nonsense. For the Lakers Windhorst to act appalled that the Pelicans didn’t want to do business with the Lakers is hilarious. It’s a holier than thou take from a tampering franchise because as I said last week there is no more powerful motivator than spite and the Lakers Anthony Davis’ agent Rich Paul essentially planted a poison pill in the New Orleans locker room a week before the trade deadline after publicly requesting a trade and then leaking reports that Davis only wants to play in LA. If I’m the Pelicans I would 1000% do the same thing. I might even take a lesser deal if I had to purely out of spite rather than gift wrap another superstar in his prime to the Lakers.

Now as a Celtics fan we’ve heard all kinds of packages and proposals and potential deals. They all make me nauseous because I don’t want to trade Tatum and Smart and whoever the hell else gets thrown in. Buttt, I also didn’t want to trade Big Al Jefferson and look how that worked out for the Celtics.

Am I concerned with trading a boatload of assets for potentially one year of Anthony Davis? Absolutely. But I just cannot see how AD could come here and play alongside Kyrie (more on that in a second) and most likely go on a deep playoff run, if not win a title, and then say nah I still would rather go play on a bum ass Lakers team with a LeBron James that is closer to 40 years old than 30. Cannot see it.

What if Kyrie jets? Well thats your doomsday scenario right there. The Celtics trade a bundle of assets for Davis and Kyrie leaves anyways because then there is a zero percent chance Davis re-signs with Boston to be a part of that lottery team. You’d basically be left with the Time Lord who hopefully could send the team back in time to avoid the entire thing.

But, I also just cannot see Kyrie leaving. If he wants to be *the* guy, then thats what he has here. From all accounts he wants to play with Anthony Davis too, who is a megastar, yet is a pretty quiet, unassuming guy.

So that would be perfect for Irving; Kyrie would be the man even if he’s not technically the best player on the team. But if he truly wants to be the guy scoring 40 a game, the hands down best player on the team, surrounded by a bunch of deferential no names, then he can be 2006 Paul Pierce on a lottery team somewhere. I don’t think he wants that though. I think he wants to win, albeit his way, but Kyrie wants to win. If the C’s can get AD to pair with him then it locks this team into being a co-favorite to win the NBA title for the next several years. Plus, you would have to be a total sociopath to grab a microphone and announce to a crowd of people that you plan to re-sign with the team only to say PSYCH like 6 months later. I think Kyrie’s council of wise elders would advise him to stay in Boston.

I remain cautiously optimistic at the house of cards our lord and savior Danny Ainge has built.

What Celtics Should Do Before Thursday’s NBA Trade Deadline

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What a crazy past week in the NBA, huh?

It all started with last Monday’s huge news that Anthony Davis doesn’t want to stay in New Orleans, which immediately caused a whirlwind of trade rumors, future roster predictions, and A LOT of false hope being doled out to desperate NBA fans around the country. It’s also caused some other soon-to-be-free-agents’ names to be dragged through tireless speculative “reports” – many of which are based on literally ZERO evidence – regarding where they will all go to create the new “superteam.” And it all seems to hinge upon Davis. On top of all that, we also got a major blockbuster between the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks involving Kristaps Porzingis just before the weekend.

(It was actually tough to keep up with everything, but for those who need a more in-depth refresher on last week’s events, Red’s got you covered with a great roundup on all of itΒ here.)

The NBA trade deadline is this Thursday, and teams have continued to make even more moves this week, with many others sure to come before tomorrow afternoon.

In what amounts to awful news for the Celtics, the 76ers acquired forward Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night in exchange for a criminally overrated veteran shooter (Wilson Chandler), a decent backup center (Mike Muscala), and future draft picks. So, Philly just got significantly better, adding a 20-point-per-game scorer to an already loaded lineup, and they did so without having to give up virtually anything for this season. Yeah, it’s definitely not good news for Green Nation.Β (The Pistons also traded former first-rounder Stanley Johnson to Milwaukee for Thon Maker on Wednesday. But, honestly, this move means zilch for anyone in the grand scheme of things.)

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The 26-year-old, Harris, is one of the most underrated players in the league.

So what should the Celtics do?

First, just to reiterate, the CelticsΒ are not able to trade for Davis until at least after July 1, 2019, so we already know he’s not coming here this season. However, the team could potentially do a bit more to put themselves in an even greater position to acquire The Brow this summer if New Orleans decides to stand their ground and wait for what they know will already be the best offer out there. Much has been made about everything the Lakers have allegedly offered to the Pelicans over the past week, but they still can’t match the level of talent and future assets the Celts currently possess.

If the Celtics were to trade someone like Terry Rozier – an impending restricted free agent – for, say, another first-rounder, they could sweeten the pot even more. They’d also be getting at least something in return for someone who is very likely to leave in the offseason. But, they’d also be leaving themselves desperately thin at the position, especially if Kyrie Irving were to get injured, and this team is still right in the middle of contending; even after the frustrating loss to Golden State on January 26, the team has won five straight and vaulted up to third place in the Eastern Conference. Furthermore, there really just aren’t many teams who’d be willing to trade such a valuable future asset for a guy who could walk in five months. So, Scary Terry ain’t going anywhere.

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Terry’s time will come soon enough. He’ll have to tough out just being “one of the guys” for a bit longer.

Or – and make sure you’re sitting down for this one – the Celtics could trade Kyrie Irving. Much like Rozier, Kyrie is also a free agent this summer; unlike Rozier, Kyrie is an unrestricted free agent, meaning he can go wherever he wants and there’s nothing the Celtics can do to stop him.

Just to set the record straight: I do not think the Celtics should trade Kyrie right now. However, I can see some logic in doing so, especially after his pretty frank comments last week regarding his commitment to the team’s future. In case you missed what he said, here ya go:

To be fair to Kyrie, I think he was just getting frustrated with the incessant “rumors” and “predictions” of where everyone was going to be next season, himself included, and we still haven’t even reached this year’s All-Star break! It’s actually pretty ridiculous, and to be entirely honest I’m getting sick of it myself. Slam Magazine also made sure to focus on other things he said during the interview, which pretty much back up what I just surmised and also points out the fact he still views the Celtics as the lead dog in the race. Finally, according to Steve Bulpett ofΒ TheΒ Boston Herald, Danny Ainge is refusing to take calls from any team that’s even tried to start the conversation anyway.

Were Kyrie to actually up and leave this summer, though, the Celts’ title contender status would immediately evaporate. And then, even if they still somehow traded for Davis, there’s no way he’d re-sign for the long term without at least one more superstar. So standing pat on Kyrie does not come without risk. But, keeping Kyrie right now at least gives you a plausible scenario which could see both he AND Davis here next season; trading him now does not give you anything close to that. In sum, the Celtics need to keep Kyrie and hope for the best.

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The Celtics need to do everything they can to keep this man happy for the next couple of months.

OK, so they can’t really trade Rozier or Kyrie at the moment. So what else should they do?

Honestly, nothing. Sure, maybe they could use some help in the rebounding department from time to time, but this team really doesn’t have any glaring issues. As I’ve said multiple times this year, I just believe there’s actually too much talent on the roster, and they just need to learn how to play better together as one unit.

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Or maybe a little more playing time for Robert Williams and his 10.0 rebounds per 36 minutes could provide a big help, too!

Again, while this team has certainly struggled much more so than I thought to this point in the season, they’ve still shown the ability that got them within minutes of an NBA Finals appearance last year. They’ve also quickly jumped up two spots in the standings after ripping off five-straight victories, and they’re still a top-five defensive team.

Brad Stevens has also started to refine the rotation a bit more in recent weeks, which will hopefully help guys settle into their roles for the stretch run and provide a bit more consistency. This team can still do some damage, as evidenced by their sound victory over the Raptors three weeks ago followed by a close defeat to Golden State, and I don’t think a major shakeup would be helpful right now in any way.

So, for the first time in years, I will be perfectly content with Ainge & Co. deciding to pass on doing anything at the deadline. Seriously, shut the phone off, Danny. Just bide your time and let the rest of the league continue to tire themselves out. Our golden opportunity still awaits.

Soon. Soon.

Tampering LeBron Seems to Be Pissing Off Trade Partners, Knicks Shooting for the Moon With Porzingis Trade and Where Do the Celtics Stand?

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ESPN – New Orleans PelicansΒ general manager Dell Demps has yet to return a call from Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, league sources told ESPN.Β The sluggish response time is perhaps a message that New Orleans places some responsibility on the Lakers for Davis’ trade request…

Demps is picking up his phone and returning calls — just not from the Lakers, sources said. From Paul George to Leonard to Davis, the Lakers’ front office is growing accustomed to icy receptions from teams enduring All-Star trade demands with a full year left on their contracts.

What is usually a case of Magic Johnson and the Lakers just tampering with anyone and everyone and then pleading ignorance or brushing it off as players talking seems to finally be catching up to them. We saw it before the season even started as LeBron basically committed insider trading on his way to Los Angeles, as we discussed on The 300s Podcast last July.

Now we’re starting to see NBA executives getting fed up with teams just flaunting the rules, especially small market teams like New Orleans that depend on those rules. Now obviously if you think players aren’t talking and pitching each other during vacations and at All-Star games you’re glib, but when players are openly campaigning to play with other players under contract with different teams, that is beyond frustrating.

Especially when LeBron owns the company that employs the agent (Rich Paul) that your star player (Anthony Davis) now shares with LeBron himself. Robert Mueller couldn’t untangle that web of deception.

You can start to see the puppet strings from Rich Paul in recent reports that have come out. Such as the one suggesting that Kyrie wanted to reunite with LeBron and was likely to leave Boston after the season. Essentially just putting reports out there to try and destabilize the perception of Boston as a destination to help expedite a trade of Davis to LA.

The stance of Davis and his camp toward Boston is linked to their view of Kyrie Irving’s future, sources said. Davis and his camp no longer believe that Irving is a sure bet to re-sign with the Celtics this summer, and that’s the primary reason they insist on clumping Boston with a similar message to the 28 other teams: Buyer beware on a trade for Davis.

This is pure agent speak for I want my client in LA so I will float rumors that Boston’s best player is leaving after this season.

Simply put if we get past the next week and Anthony Davis is not traded, there is no way I can see that he doesn’t wind up with the Celtics. If the Pelicans truly are bullshit about the tamperingΒ consulting of Davis’ (and LeBron’s) agent to get him to LA, then they for sure won’t trade him before the deadline this year. That would bring us to the offseason when no team can really beat the Celtics’ potential package.

Whether Danny Ainge would ultimately give up Jayson Tatum in any package remains to be seen, but the Lakers don’t have too much that would entice me if I’m Dell Demps. Especially if they’re still pissed because theres no more powerful motivator in this world than spite.

So the big market Los Angeles Lakers are just going to punt on 2019-20 to hopefully sign Anthony Davis the FOLLOWING summer when LeBron will be in his age 35-36 season? Uhhh…

To sign Davis outright in 2020, the Lakers would have to maintain enough cap space for him — which could mean forfeiting the chance to add a star player this summer. The Lakers could sign that star free agent, and then sign-and-trade their young guys for Davis in the summer of 2020. Whatever the case, it’s a complicated path to Davis.

Not to mention if the Lakers want to gut their team to trade for Davis now it would put them in the same exact situation the Knicks were in when they acquired Carmelo Anthony back in 2011. Sure they got their guy, but the team around him after that was garbage.

What’s more, to deal all of their young assets for Davis now would complicate the Lakers’ path to a third star. With only Davis, LeBron and Luol Deng’s stretched salary on their books for 2019-20, the Lakers would have only about $30.5 million in cap space — not enough for a max free agent. They would either have to hope a star takes less than the max, or roll their space over to the summer of 2020 — when the cap will go up again.

So if your the Pelicans, whats the rush?

The Pelicans believe the Lakers will offer the same deal in June and July as they can offer now, which is one more reason to wait on the Celtics.

But it wouldn’t be ESPN if they didn’t end the article without shitting in the cereal bowl of Boston fans with this doomsday scenario:

Still, there are scenarios that concern Boston. For instance, the Celtics could disappoint in the postseason. The Knicks could win the draft lottery and enter the offseason with the one trade asset that tops Tatum: the NBA draft’s No. 1 pick, and the chance to select Duke’s Zion Williamson.

If that isn’t enough, the Knicks could add Kevin Knox to their offer and hope that acquiring Davis would entice a second star free agent to join him. Irving would be on their short list of such players, and the Knicks, armed with Davis and enough cap room for Irving, stand as one the only Irving threats that would unnerve Boston.

The tinfoil hat donning Celtics fans are already starting to freak out about this exact scenario after the Porzingis Woj bomb that dropped out of the sky this afternoon.

The Knicks are essentially hoarding assets and clearing out more cap space for a potential Anthony Davis trade to then turn around and team him up with….a freshly signed max contract Kyrie Irving. It takes some mental gymnastics to get there, but it is a scary thought.

I have more faith in the Browns making the Super Bowl than I do in the Knicks suddenly getting their circus together enough to facilitate one of the great coups in NBA history.

There Are Reports That Kyrie is “Genuinely Interested in Reuniting With LeBron.” Not Good!

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LeBron, you tampering son of a bitch. It all started with Kyrie Irving publicly and pretty blatantly complaining about the young guys surrounding him on the Celtics.

THEN by his own admission Kyrie called LeBron James for adviceΒ  and to apologize for their falling out.

LeBron, the guy that Kyrie hated so bad that he forced his way out of Cleveland, is who Kyrie is turning to for advice. Odd flex, but OK.

Credit where its due, but Felger pointed out on 98.5 today that LeBron, who loves to opine about his role as a veteran mentor, was radio silent on the matter. Seriously, there was not a single quote from LeBron about the exchange he had with Kyrie, which as Felger said is just suspicious. It may even point to a guy in LeBron who is being cautious of potential tampering charges should Kyrie sign with LA this summer.

THEN we get the Instagram Story from LeBorn legitimately singing about lost love and publicly tagging Kyrie. At that point I was officially concerned.

THEN there was also a story that flew under the radar a bit this week about how Kyrie is planning to produce and star in a movie about a haunted hotel in Oklahoma City.

I mean they film most movies in LA, but plenty of bangers have been shot in Boston. The Departed, The Town, Fever Pitch, I could go on and on, but the point has been made.

THEN as we get to the most deeply of buried leads, comes the report from Ric Bucher:

NOW, before I get my blood pressure up I want to acknowledge that this is a report from a “source close to the team.” While thats never ideal, it’s still just a whisper of a rumor. With that being said, this would be one of the softest moves in the history of a league filled with soft dough boys. YouΒ  just cannot do this as a man if you have even a *shred* of pride. Fed up with being treated as the little brother and overshadowed by LeBron, Kyrie forced a bitter split from a team that was coming off an NBA Finals appearance into a trade with their biggest rival. Now, he’s moved onto Boston and after trying to carry his own team for a grand total of TWO seasons he’s going to give up and go running back to big bro? I’m sorry, but I would crush him worse than I crushed Kevin Durant and thats a promise.

So lets just hope this is all a bunch of malarkey or this is a behind the scenes leverage play by Kyrie perhaps. Maybe he is just trying to ensure that Celtics ownership doesn’t take his presence for granted and Danny really goes after Anthony Davis hard this offseason. That way we can go back to being good friends and I can watch my guy Kyrie hit daggers in OT against the Raptors.

THEN we had the long expected trade request from Anthony Davis coming out of New Orleans, which due to the timing gives the Los Angeles Lakers the immediate leg up on acquiring him. All this just a few months after AD signed on with one Rich Paul…the same agent as LeBron James.

LeBron…you tampering son of a bitch.

Missed Chances Kill Celtics in Heartbreaking Loss to Golden State

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Never in my life have I seen a team blow so many chances and do everything they could not to win a game as I saw in the Celtics’ 115-111 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night.

Yes, the Warriors are really good. And, sure, some people may look at the fact the team only lost by four as a “good” thing. Some may also say the team was coming off a five-game winning streak, which started with a sound victory against No. 1 seed Toronto 11 days ago. But let’s also not forget that three of those wins came against some of the very worst teams in the league (Memphis, Atlanta, and Cleveland).

Back to Saturday night. The Celtics were able to keep it pretty close the whole contest, save for a nice little run by Golden State in the second quarter, helping the Warriors build a nine-point lead at one point. The Celtics battled back, however, and cut the deficit to only two at the half.

From there on out, it was a battle. The Warriors did get the lead back up to six by the end of the third, after Jayson Tatum almost single-handedly kept the C’s alive throughout the quarter with 14 points in those 12 minutes. Then it was a fight to the finish in a neck-and-neck fourth quarter, with Al Horford and Kyrie Irving leading the way. (And I also can’t forget to mention the clutch three-pointer that Marcus Smart nailed in Draymond Green’s eyeball to tie the game at 111. Seriously, that was a sick shot.)

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Tatum stepped up big when it counted last night.

Yet when you really look at how that fourth quarter went down, the Celtics simply gave the game away. Plain and simple. It actually physically hurt to watch.

First, there’s the fact that they committed SIX turnovers in the quarter, and finished the game with a grand total of 14Β  – with nine (!) coming from Kyrie and Big Al alone. To be fair, Golden State committed 14 turnovers on Saturday night as well, and the total was not at all far off from the Celtics’ turnover-per-game mark of 13.4, which is actually the fourth-best in the whole league. But, as they say, timing is everything in life,Β and six giveaways in the final eight minutes are not going to do you any favors. Period.

It’s even worse when you consider that Golden State made just five shots from the floor in the fourth quarter, for a total of 11 points. However, they were able to sink 14 points at the line – aided by some horrendously soft calls from the officials, yes – and the Celtics even out-rebounded the Warriors 15-13 over the game’s final frame.

But the final half-minute of action tells the whole story. Just look at this cluster-eff of events that happened in the game’s final moments: with Golden State up just two points and 32 seconds left, Durant tries to throw the game away (literally) with a horrible pass that sailed out of bounds; the Celtics get the ball and Kyrie misses a two-pointer; Draymond Green then tries to grab the rebound and muffs it out of bounds; Celtics get the ball back AGAIN and Marcus Morris misses a three; Green gets the rebound again, is immediately fouled by Horford, and MISSES BOTH FREE THROWS; but, of course, the ball is rebounded by Steph Curry, he’s fouled by Kyrie, hits both shots at the line, and the game was pretty much over.

WOOF! Just brutal.

While the team did prove that they still have the firepower to hang with the league’s best, it was an awful way to end the game. And the team still sits fifth in the Eastern Conference, barely making up any ground on the four teams ahead of them, even with their five other victories over the past week. Besides two respective matchups against Charlotte and Oklahoma City, the Celtics have a beatable slate of opponents coming up over the next two weeks. Hopefully they can bounce back quickly from this one.

A few more quick notes on the Green:

  • After being arguably the Celtics’ best player besides Kyrie over the first half of the season, Marcus Morris is starting to come back to down to Earth a little bit, averaging just 9.5 points over the team’s last seven contests. After failing to score in double-figures just once from Thanksgiving through the first week in January, Morris has surpassed 10 points in just four-of-the-last-nine games.
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Still love ya, man, but what happened?

  • Terry Rozier is also really struggling to find his place on this squad. It’s been up and down all year long for the 24-year-old, with much of that likely having to do with the inconsistent minutes he’s been given, seeing well over 30 minutes of play some nights and just barely over 15-18 in others. Also, it has been U-G-L-Y for him over the past two weeks, as he is shooting an abysmal 18 percent from the floor (YUCK!) over the past nine games. He is a guy who needs a ton of volume to be successful, and he just ain’t gonna get it here. Danny, I think it’s time to move the young guard and at least get something for him before he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. (Remember, in the NBA, if a team fails to match an offer sheet, the other team is NOT required to provide any compensation.)
  • The same goes for Gordon Hayward. One of the team’s all-time biggest free-agent acquisitions is simply not living up to the hype. He was absolutely invisible against Golden State, going 0-for-5 from the floor in 22 minutes of action. And besides two 18-point games this month, he’s failed to crack double-digits in six-of-his-last-eight games. Maybe he’s still healing. Or maybe he’s just not used to playing on such a loaded squad. Regardless, he’s been a major bummer.
  • On a good note, Marcus Smart may finally be developing a three-point shot! I already mentioned the huge one he hit on Saturday night, and the defensive intensity and grit-and-balls attitude he brings to the table every night has long been well-known. Most people probably aren’t aware that he is shooting 41 percent from deep since Thanksgiving, even though he is at just 36.3 percent for the season overall. If he keeps trending in this direction, Smart could become the true X-factor on this team.
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Yeah, I see you, Marcus!

  • Things have taken a bit of a turn for our boy RobertΒ Williams –Β aka the “Time Lord.” After playing in only six games since Christmas, he was officially sent back down to the G-League just three days ago. But we know it’s only temporary, young fella! You’ll be back up in no time, and we’ll be waiting with baited breath.

So there’s your quick little Celtics round-up after Saturday night’s heartbreaker. Be sure to keep checking in with The 300s for all your news on the Green all season long.

What the Hell Does LeBron Think He’s Doing Sending My Man Videos?

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LeBron was on his IG stories singing some Fetty Wap song about lost love and tagging my man Kyrie Irving. Just look at these lyrics:

I know you’re with him now but soon you will be mine
If I could bring it back, I’ll probably press rewind

What the fuck man? This would have been odd a few weeks ago, but after Kyrie went out of his way to tell the word he called LeBron to 1.) apologize for past behavior and 2.) publicly bitch about the young guys on his own team, I am not liking this one bit.

Best case scenario? Kyrie has buried the hatchet with every Celtics fan’s blood rival so they can play grab ass on social media. Worst case scenario? These two are boys now that Kyrie understands the burden of leadership and LeBron is using that as a recruiting ploy for this summer.

Color me concerned.

REAL TALK: OK, So Maybe the Celtics Aren’t Fine

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No, but really: What the hell is going on with this Celtics team?

For team that was supposed to dominate the East this season, it’s really disappointing to see them sitting fifth in the conference at 26-18, a measly eight games above .500 and behind teams like Indiana and Philly.

I know just 10 days ago I said this team was doing just fine and that soon they’d hit their stride. And they did indeed beat the best team in the conference just two nights ago. But that win was coming off a 2-3 stretch – during which they lost to Miami, Brooklyn, and freakin’ Orlando – and after multiple instances of bitch-assness from a few players throughout the roster.

First, there was Marcus Morris shoving a completely unengaged Jaylen Brown against Miami on January 10:

Then, Kyrie Irving threw a hissy fit on the court after Jayson Tatum’s missed last-second shot attempt just two days later in Orlando, which ultimately led him to call everyone out after the game.Β To be honest, I’m not even mad about the postgame comments; a leader should step up and call out the young guys when they’re slacking, and I applaud him for doing so. I also think Jaylen Brown acted like a whiny child when he said Kyrie shouldn’t have been “pointing fingers” because it will make some on the team “go into their shells.” (Kyrie actually ended up apologizing for what he said, but Brown’s response was soft.)

BUT NOW, we get the news – compliments of Kyrie himself – that after those postgame comments he made down in Orlando, he called “old friend” LeBron James (catching the sarcasm there?) to apologize to him for being so difficult and not recognizing what a leader he was during their time together in Cleveland. Kyrie said he, too, used to do the very same things that he’s currently accusing the Celtics’ younger guys of doing, and that LeBron was simply trying to teach everyone how to win, much like he’s trying to do in Boston right now.

Wow, Kyrie.

No, seriously, though. A leader doesn’t to try and grandstand his entire team by calling the self-proclaimed “G.O.A.T.” to talk about what could have been and then go out of his way to tell the whole world about it. You’re acting like a manipulative girlfriend who brings up her ex whenever she’s mad at you. What you did was a complete bitch-ass move, Kyrie. It was a textbook LOSER move all around, and I wouldn’t blame the rest of the guys in the locker room for shutting you out for a bit because of it. That was just plain WEAK.

But how about what’s been happening on the court? Well, they did just beat the No. 1 seed Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night – yes, led by Kyrie’s 27 points – but that was after losing to Brooklyn on Monday night, in a game during which they were down by 30 at certain points.

So, while there’s no doubt the roster is still loaded with talent, the inconsistency is what is killing the team right now. This team has flipped flopped between piping hot and ice cold throughout the entire season. Need proof? Here’s a snapshot of how things have gone since Thanksgiving:

  • Won eight straight
  • Lost three in a row
  • 3-2 stretch
  • Won four straight
  • Lost three in a row
  • Win

And what’s even crazier is that, according to the numbers, the team should be one of the top squads in the entire league right now, let alone the Eastern Conference. They’re 11th in terms of offensive rating (112.2) and they’re fifth in defensive rating (106.1). Though they’re technically 14th in points per game (111.8), the stats say they should be able to make up for it with their play on the other side of the ball.

But again, inconsistency has been the killer. While Kyrie – as pissed as I am at him right now – has remained hot for pretty much the whole year, others haven’t been so reliable. For example, Al Horford, who came up huge with 24 points against Toronto on Wednesday, put up totals of 8, 10, 2, 6, and 12 in the five games prior. Gordon Hayward, who was heating up just two weeks ago, put up a total of just 17 points during the team’s three-game losing streak before scoring 18 on Wednesday night at the Garden. Even Jaylen Brown, who is finally starting to pick it up, has seen his totals fluctuate wildly over the past two weeks as well.

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It’s seriously tough to predict how the book on the Gordon Hayward era in Boston is going to be written when it’s all said and done.

Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum have been pretty reliable, with each consistently contributing 15-16 points a night. But even their once vaunted group of role guys like Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart have not been able to cement their purpose in the rotation; yes, they’re all still playing, but not as cohesively as hoped.

The problem is that there are just too many cooks in the kitchen right now, and it’s hard for anyone to start to simmer. This has also caused some serious issues in the locker room – some of which we still might not even know about – and that old “Ubuntu” mentality, championed by Celtics teams of old, seems to be a thing of the past.

Again, as I said the other week, I do believe this team can still get hot. But we’re now officially over halfway through the season, and things have actually been trending downward lately, as opposed to getting any better. Maybe Danny Ainge should think about blowing things up a bit (e.g. trading Rozier), allowing for guys to actually be a bit more selfish and solidify their respective roles a bit more. Or maybe some guys can get over themselves a bit and try to be a better teammate.

Either way, something’s gotta give, for better or worse, and something needs to be done sooner rather than later.

LeBron Does Know He Lost to the Warriors 3 Out of 4 Times in the NBA Finals Right? Right??

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I give LeBron credit for winning the NBA Finals in 2016 because the current era Golden State Warriors are one of the best teams of all time. But with that being said it took a Draymond Green suspension and one of the most cold blooded dagger threes of all-time from Kyrie Irving to get him there. He also lost to that same Warriors team in 2015, 2017, and 2018. So maybe releasing footage of yourself harping on how the Warriors fuck up all the time is not the best look. Self awareness has never been LeBron’s strong suit though.

This all comes just a couple of days after footage came out of LeBron crowning himself the greatest of all-time for winning the ’16 finals. Despite losing to that same team 3 out of 4 times.

I don’t want to always harp on LeBron, I really don’t, but he just sets himself up for it. Listen, LeBron has done a lot of great things:

He brought the city of Cleveland its first title in 50 years.

He was excellent in Trainwreck.

And he is one of the best players of all time, but despite an impressive 8 straight appearances in the championship round he is still 3-6 in the NBA Finals. So maybe, just maybe, one pretty impressive comeback against a really good team doesn’t propel you to GOAT status. If that were the case then Ray Allen could say the same thing for his Game 6 dagger 3 against the Spurs.

Come to think of it, if it weren’t for ice cold blood in the veins of Jesus Shuttlesworth and Kyrie, LeBron James would be 1-8 in the NBA Finals.

Unrelated note: Stumbled upon this incredible LeBron impersonation…

Kyrie Irving Said He Meets With a Mystical Board of People for Advice

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This quote came courtesy of Chris Forsberg, in which Kyrie said he meets with a mystical board of wise people for advice.

He is literally describing the Jedi High Council.

So is Kyrie Irving a Jedi? It would explain the insane handle and ball control in traffic; dude’s been using the force this whole time. It would also explain his overly elaborate and theatrical style of speaking. Kyrie is simply stuffed to the gills with midichlorians.

The Celtics’ Robert Williams AKA Time Lord Put on a Show Last Night

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Update: Buy Time Lord shirts here!

With pretty much everyone of note sitting last night (Kyrie, Hayward, and Horford) there were plenty of minutes to go around. Enter Robert Williams AKA Time Lord, who got his first taste of legit NBA time with 26 minutes last night and boy did he put on a show. The Time Lord finished with 7 points and 11 rebounds, but for a young, raw player he was a force on the glass. Before last night Williams hadn’t played more than 8 minutes in any game this year so it was great to get an extended look at the 1st round pick. He was even a couple of inches away from being No. 1 on SportsCenter as he muffed an alley oop attempt. The highlight of the night for my young neighbor in Brighton though was this absolutely devastating block of arguably the best player in the game Anthony Davis.

Davis still finished with 41 points so nobody was shutting AD down, but that block was Williams making a statement. He actually had 3 blocks on the night as he made his presence known.

The kid can play and he may be the “rim defender” the Celtics have been looking for all these years.