Sources: Cs/Kemba want a breakup (other sources contradict)

[Kuberski33]

Boy, the Kemba hate is strong. The guy has done nothing but work his ass off to be as good as he can be and has averaged 19/5/4 with slightly above average efficiency in his time here and people just want to buy him out/salary dump him/trade him for role players.

He is one of the most likeable athletes to come into Boston in years and everyone is dumping on him. I don't get it.

You want to package him and picks and youth for an upgrade, that I get. Just ditching him because....I don't know....he represents everything that went wrong this year in the minds of many, that I do not get.

No, it's a business decision. He makes too much money. He takes the ball out of the hands of the two best players and he doesn't pass enough. He's also not as good as he used to be.

The big thing though is that his contract prevents this team from making any significant moves to strengthen it, assuming they don't want to pay the luxury tax. First step to turning this around is getting that off the books. 

[Kiorrik]

Boy, the Kemba hate is strong. The guy has done nothing but work his ass off to be as good as he can be and has averaged 19/5/4 with slightly above average efficiency in his time here and people just want to buy him out/salary dump him/trade him for role players.

He is one of the most likeable athletes to come into Boston in years and everyone is dumping on him. I don't get it.

You want to package him and picks and youth for an upgrade, that I get. Just ditching him because....I don't know....he represents everything that went wrong this year in the minds of many, that I do not get.

The fanbase is entitled and toxic. From the "Average Al" talk to that plagued Horford, to folks admonishing Hayward and Kemba due to injuries, to fans ready to throw two good young All-Stars in Tatum & Brown under the bus. No one is worthy anymore. There has always been this undeserved narrative that top players don't want to play in Boston, that's going to eventually be true and it won't be because of the franchise itself.

Yeah, it's kinda interesting cuz we Celts fans have a rep around the league for this too.

We might've just had the worst year ever, injury-wise, for a starting 5. After being hailed as potential contenders. Yet all that gets thrown out the window because we flared out against possibly one of the best teams ever.

There's just no winning, regardless. We demand loyalty, but we treat our players worse than we'd treat dogs.

Part of it because we're on the sidelines and it doesn't really matter what we say here. But also because we don't know half the stories that are going on behind the scenes, whilst pretending we do. Every shred of info gets blown out of proportions and taken as a sign of X or Y. And regardless which of the two happens (X or Y) you'll see someone saying "I told you so!!!" because the signs were there :]

I think partly, it's the way we sometimes discuss stuff that bothers me. Very dismissive and presenting things as facts. Even when they're either hindsight, or hearsay.

Then there's the way we speak of them as resources and numbers, often ignoring the human aspect. Ignoring chemistry (and building it). Ignoring that if you trade [player x], that might upset the whole team.

Like that "rebuilding around Tatum" thread. I didn't read it, but if you fire everyone and keep Tatum ... imagine working somewhere for a while and the boss sacks everyone except you. I've quit jobs when only 1 or 2 friends were fired. If you'd do that to everyone, I'm GONE.

Anyway, not sure where I'm going with this post.

I guess, in short, I wish we'd be a little more balanced and empathic occasionally.

Or don't, see if I care :') lol

Boston isn't for everyone, and when the Red Sox realized that they started looking for more mentally strong guys that embraced the type of city Boston is rather than recoil from it. I think you'd have better luck changing the players than trying to change the fans at this point, because it has to do with the area and just how much people care about sports in this town. The town has also been spoiled by success and going deep in the playoffs is almost expected every year.

And now we're here. 1 championship in how many years?

Fair enough. Small market team, here we come :]

[Ogaju]

At this point odds on Tatum leaving at the end of his contract is even money.

[CelticSooner]

Only the C’s get heat for wanting to trade players that don’t live up their contract. The best ability is availability, I’m sorry but that’s the way sports are.

[Kiorrik]

Only the C’s get heat for wanting to trade players that don’t live up their contract. The best ability is availability, I’m sorry but that’s the way sports are.

Then why are there like twelve topics where we trade for Horford lol

[RJ87]

Boy, the Kemba hate is strong. The guy has done nothing but work his ass off to be as good as he can be and has averaged 19/5/4 with slightly above average efficiency in his time here and people just want to buy him out/salary dump him/trade him for role players.

He is one of the most likeable athletes to come into Boston in years and everyone is dumping on him. I don't get it.

You want to package him and picks and youth for an upgrade, that I get. Just ditching him because....I don't know....he represents everything that went wrong this year in the minds of many, that I do not get.

The fanbase is entitled and toxic. From the "Average Al" talk to that plagued Horford, to folks admonishing Hayward and Kemba due to injuries, to fans ready to throw two good young All-Stars in Tatum & Brown under the bus. No one is worthy anymore. There has always been this undeserved narrative that top players don't want to play in Boston, that's going to eventually be true and it won't be because of the franchise itself.

Yeah, it's kinda interesting cuz we Celts fans have a rep around the league for this too.

We might've just had the worst year ever, injury-wise, for a starting 5. After being hailed as potential contenders. Yet all that gets thrown out the window because we flared out against possibly one of the best teams ever.

There's just no winning, regardless. We demand loyalty, but we treat our players worse than we'd treat dogs.

Part of it because we're on the sidelines and it doesn't really matter what we say here. But also because we don't know half the stories that are going on behind the scenes, whilst pretending we do. Every shred of info gets blown out of proportions and taken as a sign of X or Y. And regardless which of the two happens (X or Y) you'll see someone saying "I told you so!!!" because the signs were there :]

I think partly, it's the way we sometimes discuss stuff that bothers me. Very dismissive and presenting things as facts. Even when they're either hindsight, or hearsay.

Then there's the way we speak of them as resources and numbers, often ignoring the human aspect. Ignoring chemistry (and building it). Ignoring that if you trade [player x], that might upset the whole team.

Like that "rebuilding around Tatum" thread. I didn't read it, but if you fire everyone and keep Tatum ... imagine working somewhere for a while and the boss sacks everyone except you. I've quit jobs when only 1 or 2 friends were fired. If you'd do that to everyone, I'm GONE.

Anyway, not sure where I'm going with this post.

I guess, in short, I wish we'd be a little more balanced and empathic occasionally.

Or don't, see if I care :') lol

Boston isn't for everyone, and when the Red Sox realized that they started looking for more mentally strong guys that embraced the type of city Boston is rather than recoil from it. I think you'd have better luck changing the players than trying to change the fans at this point, because it has to do with the area and just how much people care about sports in this town. The town has also been spoiled by success and going deep in the playoffs is almost expected every year.

And now we're here. 1 championship in how many years?

Fair enough. Small market team, here we come :]

Exactly. The vast majority of our titles came before I was born, but we act like this bourgeoisie franchise that can turn their nose up at players who CHOOSE to come here.

[Tr1boy]

At this point odds on Tatum leaving at the end of his contract is even money.

I wouldnt take a chance like with what happened to GSW

Either extension signed or traded.

[Celtics2021]

At this point odds on Tatum leaving at the end of his contract is even money.

Nah, Tatum will more likely than not become eligible for a Supermax and take it.

[fmbl24]

Kemba’s brother has already gone on record through Twitter trashing this article saying there’s absolutely nothing to it.

[Ogaju]

Kemba’s brother has already gone on record through Twitter trashing this article saying there’s absolutely nothing to it.

Kemba’s brother?? ....lol Kemba’s tweeter must be broken.

[Rikibellevie]

Boy, the Kemba hate is strong. The guy has done nothing but work his ass off to be as good as he can be and has averaged 19/5/4 with slightly above average efficiency in his time here and people just want to buy him out/salary dump him/trade him for role players.

He is one of the most likeable athletes to come into Boston in years and everyone is dumping on him. I don't get it.

You want to package him and picks and youth for an upgrade, that I get. Just ditching him because....I don't know....he represents everything that went wrong this year in the minds of many, that I do not get.

Most fans (I think) appreciate Kembas personnality and human beeing and don't trash him for hat he is. You can't say the only thing that motivate the wish to trade him is fan hunger... He doesn't represent everything that went wrong, but was a part of it, in the game he missed, in his difficult complementary with the Jays as a scoring first, high bll usage PG and a bad defenser.. Some could argue also another soft leader. If unload his contract could give us Lowry or Dragic on a same long contract + the ability to take 2 more players with MLE (when dump Thompson) and rest of TPE, I think it could be good for the team.

OK on the paper, Kemba could be a very good 6th men, but still paid the max, which will be a narrative in medias. If it is to take other crap (Love) or poor role player (Satoranski, Beverley) contract, OK stand path, but after this year and last offseason deadline, Stevens who would do nothing for his first year, would be under fire from day one...
So again if we can dump his contract + Tristant for few and add a more balance roster, without going far in the tax, maybe with a Fournier TPE to bank a PF later if everything goes well for us; would be the best option. Without any hate to Kemba.

For the hate of others, I remember most fans were supporting and liking very much Horford, it is just that he lived us to our rival n1 and that didn't pass so much. For Hayward, we could have the feeling that after an ECF without him he could wait one year to go to try to win here the title; if he really wanted to make the max of the max he could also wait one year. I hoped for his huge contract he could bring us something one year at least. Finally he is again hurt and that would probably have been the case here to.
Whatever I won't cry for Horford decline or Hayward injurys. They choose to leave (and notwith many proove of love for us), now they are players of other teams. But I don't feel most fans (some like everywhere and always) are that hard on them, are they ?

[Celtics2021]

Boy, the Kemba hate is strong. The guy has done nothing but work his ass off to be as good as he can be and has averaged 19/5/4 with slightly above average efficiency in his time here and people just want to buy him out/salary dump him/trade him for role players.

He is one of the most likeable athletes to come into Boston in years and everyone is dumping on him. I don't get it.

You want to package him and picks and youth for an upgrade, that I get. Just ditching him because....I don't know....he represents everything that went wrong this year in the minds of many, that I do not get.

This.  Also, by at least one metric (RAPTOR being the one I found), he was the Celtics best player last year when healthy.  ESPN's Real-Plus Minus had him 3rd, behind Tatum and Brown, but still at net positive, and at 57th overall was right behind Anthony Davis (55th) and Bradley Beal (56th).  Is his health concerning?  Absolutely.  Is he the best fit next to Tatum and Brown, given their development the last two years?  That's questionable.  Is he trash?  Far from it.  His production was probably worth ~$20 million this season.  That's not great when he was paid $34 million, but he also wasn't the problem.  The problem is easy to see when you look at something like RAPTOR -- we only had six players with a positive score, and three of them missed all or most of the Nets series.  You can have crappy depth if you're healthy, or you can have bad health if you have good depth, but you can't have both, and that's not Kemba's fault.  Last year, in comparison, we had 8 players who were positive, and better health. 

I'm on board with trading Kemba for someone who is a better fit for the roster, but the concept of moving him just to get out from under his contract, which could very well be entering it's last year anyway?  People need to get a grip.

[tenn_smoothie]

Boy, the Kemba hate is strong. The guy has done nothing but work his ass off to be as good as he can be and has averaged 19/5/4 with slightly above average efficiency in his time here and people just want to buy him out/salary dump him/trade him for role players.

He is one of the most likeable athletes to come into Boston in years and everyone is dumping on him. I don't get it.

You want to package him and picks and youth for an upgrade, that I get. Just ditching him because....I don't know....he represents everything that went wrong this year in the minds of many, that I do not get.

Absolutely agree. Think about the difference between Kemba and Kyrie in terms of effort and willingness to put the team first. It's not his fault that his body started breaking down from the years in Charlotte, it's just seems to be the Celtic curse.

Having said that, pragmatically, Kemba is currently an overall negative for this team. Injuries, Size, Contract, Style of Play.
I would love to keep him as our sparkplug 6th man at a greatly reduced salary. Not sure how the Celts could make that happen, though.

[ozgod]

Boy, the Kemba hate is strong. The guy has done nothing but work his ass off to be as good as he can be and has averaged 19/5/4 with slightly above average efficiency in his time here and people just want to buy him out/salary dump him/trade him for role players.

He is one of the most likeable athletes to come into Boston in years and everyone is dumping on him. I don't get it.

You want to package him and picks and youth for an upgrade, that I get. Just ditching him because....I don't know....he represents everything that went wrong this year in the minds of many, that I do not get.

The fanbase is entitled and toxic. From the "Average Al" talk to that plagued Horford, to folks admonishing Hayward and Kemba due to injuries, to fans ready to throw two good young All-Stars in Tatum & Brown under the bus. No one is worthy anymore. There has always been this undeserved narrative that top players don't want to play in Boston, that's going to eventually be true and it won't be because of the franchise itself.

It's legitimately souring me on this board. It started with IT, who felt like he deserved a bigger contract. Then, Average Al, who a lot of people now pine for. Then, Hayward, who was accused of being a wimp and dogging it. Now Kemba.

Think of this. Toronto "load managed" Kawhi and won a title. Was it really Kemba that wanted to skip the second game of back-to-backs? Why is he blamed for being "injury prone" when it was the team holding him back? Or. I think someone here suggested that the team was being over-cautious because of the IT injuries.

Nah, that's no fun. I need someone to BLAME!

Grievance is a much more motivating feeling for people than empathy unfortunately. I don't think it's exclusive to Cs fans though. You just have to look at teams' forums and subreddits to see that the hate is strong for many players who are perceived to be underperforming or who the fanbase has decided is deadweight.

[gouki88]

Who is that journalist? Never heard of em