So this “debate” floated around Twitter yesterday. In my opinion, it has to be one of the most ridiculous questions of all time. Really? You are going to ask people to debate Dwyane Wade vs Larry Bird?
Alright NBA fans, and even you Celtics fans that seem to forget, the Celtics don’t just have a Big Three on the squad… they have a Big Four. All of the buzz is centered around Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker. Which, in reality, is rightfully so. Those are the three best players of the Celtics right now. However, why does the conversation stop there? Why do even us Celtics fans seem to overlook the fact that there is another star on the squad? Another guy that can go for 30+ on any given night. Gordon Hayward is the name people leave out of the conversation far too often.
Gordon Hayward informed the media on Friday that he would be leaving the Orlando bubble for the birth of his fourth daughter in September, even if the Celtics were in the midst of a playoff battle. The sister of former Celtics center Al Horford tweeted out her support for Hayward and called out a particular individual relating to comments he made in the past about her brother:
With the third pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics took Jaylen Brown, the freshman out of California. Looking back on it, Celtics fans were less than thrilled at the Boston draft party. Owner Wyc Grousbeck even came out of the war room to address the fans after hearing the booing roars of Celtics fans… he was then personally booed as well…
Starting June 23rd, the NBA’s window for teams to sign players ahead of the league’s resumption of the regular season opens. All 30 NBA teams will have one week to sign current free agents to contracts, with the stipulation that they must have been on an NBA roster at some point during the 2019-20 season. Teams will also have the opportunity to convert players on two-way contracts and the 22 teams heading to Orlando will have the opportunity to sign new players to two-way contracts.
Carsen Edwards has been Boston’s most dissapointing player of the 2019-20 season. While it’s ok to be underwhelmed, don’t call him a bust just yet.
Isaiah was traded in February of 2015 for Marcus Thornton and a 2016 first-round pick. I remember being so excited to watch him make his Celtics debut just a few days later. He came off the bench and right away had a breakaway bucket. It was right then, I said to myself, “there is something different about this.” You could almost tell. Isaiah finished with 21 points that night and was ejected before the game eventually ended in an overtime loss for the Celtics. Now, I am not condoning getting ejected and losing your cool, but Isaiah showed a fire. He showed passion in those few seconds. Maybe it was just me, but that was a time period in which i felt the Celtics lacked passion altogether and seeing one guy get mad just got me on my feet and in a weird way got me caring about this team again. Again, maybe it was just me but that ejection meant something to me (as weird as that is to say).
Ahh, I can’t wait. I know this is the type of blog that some of you will be triggered by… “why do you still care about him?” or “Just move on already!” or “Wow Kyrie is in Celtics fans’ heads still…”
With all that is happening in our world today and over these last few months, the return to NBA basketball is far from the most important thing to focus on. Brad Stevens echoed that sentiment the other day when he stated that “empathy means more than basketball right now”. Across the nation, NBA players are demonstrating this by focusing their time and energy on the larger societal issues at hand of racism, discrimination and police brutality whether it be through use of their far-reaching social platforms, by joining and leading protests as we have seen from multiple members of the Celtics, or both. With that being said, the NBA and it’s thirty franchises did officially agree upon a plan for a return-to-play format this week with Disney World’s ESPN complex as the “bubble” venue.
2011-12 was a strange time in the NBA. The lockout had shortened the season to a mere 66 games, LeBron James was still labeled as a perennial choker who couldn’t lead a team to a championship, and the Boston Celtics Big Three Era was in it’s twilight.
