Saw a podcast recently where they asked someone to give actual reasons Anthony Davis wouldn't consider Boston. Fact is, there aren't a lot of reasons. The two main things Davis wants is to play for a winner (his team sucks) and to be relevant (they were offended he didn't even get voted as an all-star starter and his team can't even fill their arena for home games)...
Boston checks ALL of the boxes. Potential to play for a winner, great supporting cast (if Kyrie stays), great ownership group, elite management, great coach, one of the 5 most relevant franchises in the NBA... it's a no-brainer.
The only two reasons the podcaster could come up with.
1 - Boston is cold
2 - Some still think Boston is racist
I was surprised this was still a narrative... that Boston is "racist" and that black players don't want to play here. That seems lazy and cheap. That said, I've spent quite a bit of time looking at the fan community turning on Kyrie Irving based on out-of-context quotes and I have to say (though certainly not in all instances), I've frequently seen an element of racism in the Kyrie hate. In some instances, blatant racism. It's disgusted me seeing what some Celtic fans have said. But to be honest, that level of racism I was seeing isn't exclusive to Boston. It's still a problem all over the Country. I saw similar takes on Carmelo Anthony when he played on the Knicks, for instance. There are crappy people everywhere.
That said, I had a private conversation with a black fan a couple days ago who actually made this exact argument - that Hayward gets favorable treatment, because he's white. He pointed out that Hayward gets a ridiculous amount of love for "having done absolutely nothing". I couldn't discount it entirely, but I honestly feel like the reason Hayward gets so much love is mainly because he's coming off a catastrophic injury where his foot fell off. We all just want to see him get healthy. And certain, there's fans out there who have hated on Hayward. You need only listen to my podcast with KG Living Legend to hear a fan ranting about what a dumpsterfire Hayward's season has been. In the recent Jackie Mac article, Hayward admitted that he's actually had to avoid social media and start seeing a mental health counselor because of some of the negativity he's had to deal with. He's definitely getting his share of hate. But yeah... maybe he also gets a bit of a pass for some of his failures that fans wouldn't give a guy like Kyrie.
Again, as a white dude who lives in Seattle, my perspective on this is limited. I've seen racism from Celtic fans. It's bothered me. Whether or not that makes the label of Boston being "racist" when compared to other cities - I don't know. It's a problem everywhere.