I don’t. He honestly seems to be in the middle of all this maelstrom. Lebron-led teams have had troubles before but even with a salty 2nd best player in Kyrie, they’ve found ways to get through it. This is a team chock full of vets (Wade, Korver, Crowder, Love, etc.) who all should know better but outside looking in, it seems like IT is one of the instigators of all this trouble.
It could just be a regression to the mean. He had a “honeymoon” phase here in Boston but maybe he’s reverting back to who he was in Sac-town.
He was loved in Sacramento.
By fans? Maybe. By people on the team/FO? Not too much.
His team liked him too. Many were mad when they let him go, even Boogie got along with him.
I can say with certainty that Boogie didn’t like him. Not to say that DMC is the picture of a perfect teammate but I’m saying IT isn’t some victim here. He’s a significant part of the problem there in Cleveland. Not the only problem, mind you, but definitely a contributor.
How certain are you? Have you got proof? Cousins and IT keep in contact with each other even after he got traded.
During their Sac days? Quite certain. Maybe I phrased it too harshly. I didn’t mean it as like “man they hated that guy! What a cancer IT was!” but it was more along the lines of “man that locker room really doesn’t seem to want to get along.” (Similar to Cleveland now, I suppose) and he was part of it.
Just to clarify my stance, I’m not putting the sole blame on IT (in either scenario) but i want to dispel the notion that he’s some sort of angel or victim or “perfect teammate”. FWIW, I think Boston was the perfect storm for him and his strong personality allowed him to blossom as a leader. Of course, his Celtics tenure is pure speculation on my part and my guess is as good as yours. Maybe DA wasn’t the biggest fan of his either but that’s just speculation I’ve heard too.
Nowadays, I wouldn’t know about DMC-IT’s relationship. Maybe they’re cool now. Maybe then, it was just the stress of playing together or being teammates or being young in this league and still immature that caused their disagreements. Maybe it was all the losing.
