Athletic report on locker room problems

[tenn_smoothie]

Jared Weiss has written an article for "The Athletic" online magazine, detailing problems within the Celts locker room this season.
If true, very disconcerting stuff .......
Walker and Stevens at odds, players telling free agents not to come to Boston, favoritism shown to Marcus Smart of all people, players unhappy.

"The Celtics' locker room was reportedly dysfunctional throughout the 2020-21 NBA season for a myriad of reasons stemming from friction between head coach Brad Stevens and the players, per The Athletic's Jared Weiss. It was reportedly so dysfunctional that when former Pistons forward Blake Griffin asked a Celtics player if he should join the team earlier this season, he was advised not to because of the tension.

Kemba Walker, who was traded to the Thunder Friday, was rumored to be on the move during the offseason. However, once Walker heard of the Celtics' effort to trade him, it was evident he would not be there long term. What didn't help was that Walker and Stevens, were allegedly at odds with each other, and their relationship was characterized as "tension-filled", per the report. Stevens was harder on Walker, specifically for his defensive mistakes than other players, and reportedly showed favoritism for other top players.
Stevens was reportedly more aggressive with some players after Gordon Hayward left for the Hornets. Hayward allegedly told Stevens that he needed to establish a stronger voice if the team wanted to win.
Walker became more open to playing for another franchise after the team started getting booed at TD Garden for their struggles. The boos reportedly "p---ed him off."
By the end of the season, it reportedly was widely believed the Celtics lost their culture of winning. This was exemplified when Boston players paid no mind to Nets guard and former Celtic Kyrie Irving stomping on the team's logo.
Players even began to voice their concerns over Stevens's "college offense" that often left the team's best players in isolation situations. They began to welcome the idea of a coaching change for Stevens's favoritism of players and inability to hold some accountable as well, per the report. "

This just a summary write-up of the actual article, which requires a subscription to access.

[gouki88]

I've got a feeling a lot of this stems from a disgruntled Tristan Thompson

[tenn_smoothie]

I've got a feeling a lot of this stems from a disgruntled Tristan Thompson

What did Thompson have to be unhappy about  -  other than his baby-momma blowing up her lips to look like Donald Duck ?

[Tr1boy]

I've got a feeling a lot of this stems from a disgruntled Tristan Thompson

What did he have to be unhappy about?

The late night dinner options? 

[Rikibellevie]

Finally I guess, we had a good season baring all the problems we faced!

If really Stevens interogates so much the players, I guess it would have been logical to fire Stevens with Ainge. Whatever it is crazy how things turned bad in less than one year. It is time to react, we still have the Jays and we have to do evtgh for their development

[PhoSita]

Sources:

Kemba Walker
Tristan Thompson
Glen Davis



(my guesses)

[Banner18now!]

The NBA has become a bunch of overpaid whine bag divas who cry about everything. When does it stop?? Maybe when they are told they don’t run the league anymore with a real commissioner?

[Kiorrik]

The NBA has become a bunch of overpaid whine bag divas who cry about everything. When does it stop?? Maybe when they are told they don’t run the league anymore with a real commissioner?

The NBA has finally become much less of a circus of underpaid roid-rage numbskulls who hate everything. Hope it doesn't stop. Maybe when they are told the league will be run by the players instead of by 1 leader?

I mean, it's real easy to see the pros instead of the cons too.

Jussayin'.

[Roy H.]

I’m not sure I believe this.  If true, it paints Kemba as a diva moreso than saying anything bad about Stevens.  If guys are going to hold grudges, because they’re asked to play defense (a huge problem this year) that’s on them.

[SHAQATTACK]

Dumping Walker was a priority at every level. Especially if he couldn’t get along with Stevens.  He was worn out before he got to Boston .  Ainge was desperate to right his mistakes  and Celtics got buyers remorse .

[td450]

So Walker thought Stevens was unfair in his criticism about his defense and showed favoritism to Marcus Smart?

I hate to comment considering don't subscribe and I can't read the article, but it sounds like Walker needed to recalibrate. He was the worst defender on the team. Part of that was his size, but a lot of it was some really sloppy technique, especially off the ball. He deserved more criticism than anyone else. He wasn't even as good a defender as Pritchard.

Smart did some dumb stuff on offense, but if Stevens showed favoritism for Smart's approach on defense, and gave him a pass on a few mistakes, I guess I'm OK with that.

[Vermont Green]

As some others have implied, I am not sure what to make of this (if anything).  It sounds like it all started when Kemba caught wind that the Celtics tried to trade him.  Then maybe there was tension over Stevens riding him about defense (who knows).  And maybe Kemba did tell Blake Griffin not to come here.

I thought Kemba played hard, worked on defense, tried to adjust to be more of a distributor, etc.  I also thought that Stevens stayed with him giving him plenty of minutes even when he was clearly not fully back.  I would not have sensed an issue.

Assuming there was an issue, it seems it was between Kemba and team management (who tried to trade him) and maybe specifically Stevens (although Stevens as coach did not do trades).  This could explain why Kemba was traded so quickly.  It could also be a writer trying to connect dots and speculating that there is more than meets the eye to this.

And an even more conspiratorial theory, the Celtics complete a trade of a somewhat popular player (both with fans and other players) and wanted a particular narrative put out there to a willing writer to help justify the trade to those who liked Kemba.

[Roy H.]

As some others have implied, I am not sure what to make of this (if anything).  It sounds like it all started when Kemba caught wind that the Celtics tried to trade him.  Then maybe there was tension over Stevens riding him about defense (who knows).  And maybe Kemba did tell Blake Griffin not to come here.

I thought Kemba played hard, worked on defense, tried to adjust to be more of a distributor, etc.  I also thought that Stevens stayed with him giving him plenty of minutes even when he was clearly not fully back.  I would not have sensed an issue.

Assuming there was an issue, it seems it was between Kemba and team management (who tried to trade him) and maybe specifically Stevens (although Stevens as coach did not do trades).  This could explain why Kemba was traded so quickly.  It could also be a writer trying to connect dots and speculating that there is more than meets the eye to this.

Another poster pointed out that it is weird that the story mentioned Kemba being booed at the TD Garden.  When did that happen?  Game 3, with 4500 fans?

And an even more conspiratorial theory, the Celtics complete a trade of a somewhat popular player (both with fans and other players) and wanted a particular narrative put out there to a willing writer to help justify the trade to those who liked Kemba.

The Sox were notorious for this.  Mo Vaughn — MVP, beloved star — leaves for the Angels, and he becomes Strip Club Mo.

Here, though, I don’t think it’s a plant by the organization.  If it were, I don’t think the emphasis would be on Stevens’ inability to control the locker room. 

[Celtics4ever]

And an even more conspiratorial theory, the Celtics complete a trade of a somewhat popular player (both with fans and other players) and wanted a particular narrative put out there to a willing writer to help justify the trade to those who liked Kemba.

Wow, we are really reaching here....They don't care what fans want.

I bet you took a poll at last 50% of the people would have been for trading Kemba prior to the trade.   It would be even more now with this stuff out there and thoroughly biased.

[MaxAMillion]

I believe Tristan Thompson was the one speaking to Blake Griffin. Also remember word got out that some players had an issue with TT and there was tension there. Plus Stevens probably disliked TT stating the regular season doesn’t matter. The entire thing obviously became a mess. Hopefully new blood and TT getting traded changes things.