Athletic report on locker room problems

[RPGenerate]

There’s a lot that could be completely false here but there’s one thing that’s undeniable…..

The last 4 marquee players the Celtics have lured to Boston:

Al Horford:  opted out of his contract to sign with a division rival.

Gordon Hayward:  often injured, rumors his family hated Boston, wanted to leave, unhappiness with his role

Kyrie:  I really don’t need to write anything here.

Kemba Walker:  reportedly disgruntled and traded before his contract was up.

The fact was Al Horfords situation was head and shoulders above all else here is cringe worthy


…….not a great platform to leap off of when pitching to future free agents

Horford left because he got paid far more money than we could give him. Leaving that out is incredibly disingenuous.

[PhoSita]

I really think that so many of the issues the last few years with vets that the team has brought in on big money deals is that those guys came to Boston thinking the Celts would be their team and then it became quickly apparent that the Celts revolve first and foremost around Tatum and Brown, and to a lesser extent Smart and Stevens.

This was never going to be Kemba's team.  He was never going to be a centerpiece of the franchise.  Kemba was "the guy" in Charlotte for years, and I'm guessing it was jarring for him to go to a team that saw him as a complementary piece rather than a main guy who needed to be prioritized.

Hayward and Kyrie were obviously brought in with the idea that they would be central figures for the franchise, but for various reasons that never materialized and instead the team became oriented around Tatum and Brown.

[Celtics4ever]

The last 4 marquee players the Celtics have lured to Boston:

Out of the list, only one of those I would consider marquee and he was traded for and that was Kyrie.  Now he is a total diva.

Gordon, Al and Kemba are allstars but a tier below in terms of talent

[GreenEnvy]

There’s a lot that could be completely false here but there’s one thing that’s undeniable…..

The last 4 marquee players the Celtics have lured to Boston:

Al Horford:  opted out of his contract to sign with a division rival.

Gordon Hayward:  often injured, rumors his family hated Boston, wanted to leave, unhappiness with his role

Kyrie:  I really don’t need to write anything here.

Kemba Walker:  reportedly disgruntled and traded before his contract was up.

The fact was Al Horfords situation was head and shoulders above all else here is cringe worthy


…….not a great platform to leap off of when pitching to future free agents

What’s the problem with the Horford situation? Did it end acrimoniously? I thought he chased the money, and it’s clear it wasn’t a good deal for either side (sounds as if Anna Horford hated everything about Philly).

The Hayward one was weird. The rest doesn’t surprise me, especially if the reports are even remotely true about how poorly Kemba took his rehab.

I think we are overlooking the ascension of Tatum/Brown. You can’t pay EVERYBODY. Obviously they couldn’t have signed all of Horford/Irving/Kemba, but I don’t think they could have kept Kyrie (even if he wanted to stay) AND Horford AND Hayward AND extend Brown & Tatum.

[PhoSita]

I think it's clear that Horford and his family really like Boston.

I suspect that a big part of that is that Horford played exactly as large a role as he probably expected to play when he got here, he was never really floated in any trade rumors, and he was a key part of multiple deep playoff runs.


Kyrie never got to experience what it's like to be a central figure on a Boston team making a deep playoff run.  I have a feeling he might have ultimately felt differently about his time in Boston if that had been the case.  Same with Hayward.


Notable too that although Kemba was part of a deep playoff run with the Celtics, that run took place in the bubble without any fans.

[Emmette Bryant]

Bill Simmons is saying Kemba didn't do his rehab. Anybody know anything about that?

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/kemba-walker-knee-rehab/

[Roy H.]

Bill Simmons is saying Kemba didn't do his rehab. Anybody know anything about that?

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/kemba-walker-knee-rehab/

Danny, Stevens and Kemba all said he was doing his rehab and exercises, and nothing like this was reported at the time. 

[gouki88]

Bill Simmons is saying Kemba didn't do his rehab. Anybody know anything about that?

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/kemba-walker-knee-rehab/

Danny, Stevens and Kemba all said he was doing his rehab and exercises, and nothing like this was reported at the time.

Also vaguely remember Grant Williams lived with Kemba for a while. Feel like if Kemba was ignoring his rehab someone as percipient as Grant (for all his on-court flaws) would have noticed

[greg683x]

The last 4 marquee players the Celtics have lured to Boston:

Out of the list, only one of those I would consider marquee and he was traded for and that was Kyrie.  Now he is a total diva.

Gordon, Al and Kemba are allstars but a tier below in terms of talent

Then feel free to choose a different word than marquee.  At the time, these players were in the top tier of available free agents, that’s the point

[greg683x]

There’s a lot that could be completely false here but there’s one thing that’s undeniable…..

The last 4 marquee players the Celtics have lured to Boston:

Al Horford:  opted out of his contract to sign with a division rival.

Gordon Hayward:  often injured, rumors his family hated Boston, wanted to leave, unhappiness with his role

Kyrie:  I really don’t need to write anything here.

Kemba Walker:  reportedly disgruntled and traded before his contract was up.

The fact was Al Horfords situation was head and shoulders above all else here is cringe worthy


…….not a great platform to leap off of when pitching to future free agents

What’s the problem with the Horford situation? Did it end acrimoniously? I thought he chased the money, and it’s clear it wasn’t a good deal for either side (sounds as if Anna Horford hated everything about Philly).

The Hayward one was weird. The rest doesn’t surprise me, especially if the reports are even remotely true about how poorly Kemba took his rehab.

I think we are overlooking the ascension of Tatum/Brown. You can’t pay EVERYBODY. Obviously they couldn’t have signed all of Horford/Irving/Kemba, but I don’t think they could have kept Kyrie (even if he wanted to stay) AND Horford AND Hayward AND extend Brown & Tatum.

Perhaps I’m having selective memory here, I certainly could be.

Yes Al chased the money.  It’s the way he left is what I felt rubbed people the wrong way.  If I remember correctly he negotiated this deal with Philly before free agency began, and basically blind sided us with it, leaving us little to no time to react.

Again, my memory could be over exaggerating the truth, but I just remember when Al initially opted out of his deal, most people were expecting him to want to stay and sign a more team friendly deal for more years and stay.


No it’s not awful.  The point is though, from an outsiders perspective, it can appear that all four of those guys came here and then got the hell out at first opportunity

[SCeltic34]

Bill Simmons is saying Kemba didn't do his rehab. Anybody know anything about that?

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/kemba-walker-knee-rehab/

Danny, Stevens and Kemba all said he was doing his rehab and exercises, and nothing like this was reported at the time.

Yeah sounds like what Simmons is saying is a bunch of nonsense.  I can't think of any good reasons Kemba why wouldn't do his rehab routine.  First and foremost the risk of sabotaging his own career by risking recurrent injury to said knee.  He's not exactly known to be lazy either.

[Csfan1984]

Bill Simmons is saying Kemba didn't do his rehab. Anybody know anything about that?

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/kemba-walker-knee-rehab/

Could be related to comments Kemba made about not doing all the rehab on schedule and even starting late due to covid stuff coming up again and again. There were questions on if it was really Covid or Kemba by a few media so he must have missed at least some rehab.

[Tr1boy]

Bill Simmons is saying Kemba didn't do his rehab. Anybody know anything about that?

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/kemba-walker-knee-rehab/

not sure...but I buy what MacMullan and Simmons say ... most of the time

They were one of the first ones who stated Danny might be on his way out/retire

Ended up happening

[Kiorrik]

Bill Simmons is saying Kemba didn't do his rehab. Anybody know anything about that?

https://heavy.com/sports/boston-celtics/kemba-walker-knee-rehab/

not sure...but I buy what MacMullan and Simmons say ... most of the time

They were one of the first ones who stated Danny might be on his way out/retire

Ended up happening

Yeh ... it's tricky. Broken clocks and all.

Not saying they're hardly ever correct, just saying they might be wrong too sometimes.

I dislike this part of the sport. The rumour mill sucks for pretty much everyone involved.

[CelticSooner]

I don’t see Kemba as a malcontent of any kind. He’s just a classic case of a guy that has played too many minutes and who’s body is breaking down. Happens with the majority of small PGs. C’s acquired damaged goods, just the truth of it.