You may recall that when Jason Terry was introduced at the press conference he said he had something special in mind for his new tattoo. He wasn't kidding. He had gotten a tattoo of the Larry O'Brien trophy on his bicep in the off season before the Mavs won their Championship in 2011. Today, Terry sent out this tweet to herald the unveiling of his new Celtics tattoo.
Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, Dionte Christmas, and Kris Joseph at the Summer Soiree
Ben Rohrbach caught up with Avery Bradley at the team's Summer Soiree where he, Courtney Lee, Kris Joseph and Dionte Christmas all sat on a panel to answer questions for those in attendance. He stressed the family atmosphere on the Celtics and that the team is like a family where they all hang out and go to each others houses. He was excited for the new additions to the team and stated that Danny always does a great job of finding guys who fit with the Celtics family.
“You guys are going to be happy once we start that first day of training camp because all we want to do is win,” he added. “We’re a family. We don’t care about anything but winning. To be part of a team like that, it makes you feel comfortable, because there’s no pressure. You’re not going out there worrying about scoring or doing things you can’t do. You do your role and everything else will work itself out and we’ll win games.”
He said he is taking it day by day with his rehab and is hoping to be able to participate in his first ever full training camp. He was recovering from an ankle injury his first season and there was the lockout his second season and so this will be his first chance to experience training camp if he can be ready to play by that time.
He wanted to keep playing last season but realized that he had to do what was good for the team and for his future and knew that if he continued to play it might have affected this season as well. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
After over a year of drama and demands by Dwight Howard, he was finally introduced as a member of the LA Lakers yesterday. He said that he was very happy to be in LA and on the Lakers. As he often does, Adrian Wojnarowski has the scoop on why Howard is happy to be in LA.
When the time comes rest assured Bryant will make something clear: The carnival act ends now. The clowning and goofing are done. During games, players used to hear Kevin Garnett screaming at Howard: "Paint your face, clown!" up and down the floor.
So now we know that KG taunted Howard up and down the floor yelling "Paint your face, clown!" I'm sure that's the PG version of KG's taunts and probably only the tip of the iceberg so to speak. But, having KG taunt you only twice a year rather than 4 times a year would be a big incentive for Dwight to want to stay in the Western conference. But, he still has Perk to deal with over there, and hopefully Perk picks up where KG left off.
The dust is settling on the blockbuster trade that shook up both Eastern and Western conferences. Here is the final damage done from the trade:
CBS Sports posted more details on the deal now that it is final.
Lakers get Howard, Earl Clark and Chris Duhon
Philly Gets Jason Richardson and Andrew Bynum
Denver Gets Andre Iguodala
Orlando Gets Christian Eyenga, Josh McRoberts, Al Harrington, Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, Lakers 2017 first round and 2015 second round picks, Denver's 2014 first round pick, Philly's 2015 1st round pick. (All the picks are conditional and protected to some degree)
My first reaction was that Orlando surely could have gotten a better deal for Howard. But then I remembered that their new GM has been with Thunder I believe he is going to follow the pattern followed by Presti in building that team. He didn't want to bring players in with big salaries and try to contend now. He's going to clean house, start from scratch, and build in the draft. They will be very bad for a few years and then develop their young talent and hope to become successful like the Thunder. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
I know you've all been waiting on pins and needles to find out where last season's training camp MVP would land. He worked out for LA but was narrowly edged out by Dwight Howard for their center position. It was a tough choice, I'm sure. AZ Central is now reporting that JO and the Suns have agreed to terms. This sentence cracked me up:
The Suns have filled their final guaranteed roster spot and their need for a big man with the most decorated center remaining on the market.
I'm thinking that by decorated they mean bandages. Maybe he's using that pretty Kinesiology that all the Olympians are wearing. I guess that would make him decorated. Let's hope that the Suns have better luck with him than the Celtics did. In two seasons, he played in only 49 games total for the Celtics due to injuries to every part of his body, or at least it seemed that way. Maybe that tape isn't all that bad an idea, it might hold him together.
It was reported that JO went to Germany this summer to undergo the Orthokine treatment on both of his knees. This is the same treatment that Kobe had on his knees last summer and Grant Hill also had the treatment this summer. That may take care of his knees, but about those wrists, ankles, feet and back...
Courtney Lee has arrived in Boston and is ready to get to work for the Celtics. As reported by Greg Payne on ESPN.com, Lee made his first public appearance as a member of the Boston Celtics, the team's annual Summer Soiree. He's definitely excited to join the Celtics.
"Once you see that there's interest from a team, the decision's up to you, so I had a tough decision to make. I had a lot of different offers from a lot of different teams, but the one I really wanted to come to was Boston, so I spoke with my agent, I spoke with my family. It was a decision that I had to take less money to come here, but in that, I'll be winning, I have a chance to play on TV, and that's what everybody wants to do -- they want to win big and have a chance to win a ring. So it was a no-brainer for me."
As much as everyone wanted Ray to come back, Courtney Lee brings so much more to the equation. Unlike Ray, Lee can create his own shot and plays very good defense. He is also athletic, a very good 3 point shooter, and has good size at 6'5". He has promised a strong commitment to defense from him. And most importantly, he wants to be in Boston and has a great team first attitude.
"[I'm] just a guy that's going to go out there and play hard every possession," Lee said. "There are no possessions off. I'm capable of scoring on the offensive end, but I'm going to give the same effort on the defensive end night in and night out.
"I just want to win. I'm not the coach, so whatever Doc feels will help the team, it's his decision," Lee said. "So I'm just going to go out there and just play.
"[Coming off the bench is] the same as starting the game. You've just got a job and a role to go out there and fulfill. You've just got to be professional and handle that."
Now, isn't that refreshing? Lee will more than likely fill in for Avery Bradley in the starting lineup while Bradley finishes his rehab. The competition for that starting spot between those two, and possibly Jason Terry also, should be great and make the whole team better. I can't wait for this season to start.
The Dwightmare may be over finally. Marc Stein is reporting on ESPN.com that the trade that would send Dwight Howard to the Lakers is complete and a call has been scheduled with the league office for Friday to get the necessary approval to make the deal official. As reported so far, the trade will look like this:
Lakers get Dwight Howard
Nuggets get Andre Iguodala
76ers get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson
Magic get Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless and a protected first round pick from the Lakers, Nuggets, and 76ers.
This is risky for both the Lakers and the Sixers in that neither Bynum nor Howard have committed to signing with their new team and both have indicated that they want to enter free agency next off season. So, it may a one year rental for both teams. I would say that LA has a better chance of re-signing Howard than the Sixers of re-siging Bynum, although, Bynum grew up about an hour away from Philadelphia so it's a homecoming of sorts for him.
This makes the Sixers a bit tougher inside and we may see the fruits of signing Collins early in that he has been very good at defending both Bynum and Howard in the past. I'm wondering if Herr Stern will sign off on this one. It appears that the Lakers are getting Howard without giving up all that much. Bynum for Howard? Not exactly an even trade. And it seems to me that the Rockets have more assets to offer the Magic than what they are getting from this trade. Seems to me that the league needs to kick in their basketball reasons again.
When thinking about how special Rajon Rondo is, we can't forget another Celtics point guard who was very special also. Robert Joseph Cousy turns 84 today. Just as Bill Russell revolutionized the way the NBA played the game with his defense, Bob Cousy revolutionized the way the NBA played the game with his ball handling. Cousy is one of the most loved and revered Celtics of all time but he almost wasn't a Celtic.
Coming out of Holy Cross, with a huge local following from his college days, many expected Cousy to be the logical choice of the Celtics in the draft. He was already a New England hero with 3 All American honors to his credit, but Red Auerbach wasn't as easily impressed. Red snubbed Cousy and instead picked center Charlie Share, commenting to the press. "I'm supposed to win, not go after local yokels". Some in the press criticized Red but others saw Cousy as a hot dog and felt that his fancy ball handling wouldn't work in the pros.
The Tri-Cities Blackhawks ended up drafting Cousy, but he had been trying to start a driving school in Massachusetts and didn't want to move to that area. Cousy demanded a salary of $10,000 from Blackhawks for compensation for giving up his driving school. They offered him only $6,000 and Cousy refused to report to the team. He was then picked up by the Chicago Stags who folded soon after, so he never played a game for them. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
On his facebook page, Rajon Rondo has posted this video with the title Back to Work. Yesterday I posted a photo of Rondo doing a dunk over someone seated in a chair and marvelled at his hops. The video from Rondo's facebook shows his amazing athleticism even more. While working out at the Celtics practice facility, Rondo stood in front of a very high box that looks to be about shoulder height. He takes a one step leap to end up on top of it. Sometimes we forget about how athletic and special this kid is since he's not always dunking over people like Russel Westbrook does. But this video shows that there aren't many players in the league who can match his unique talents. In other news, Rondo was at the Saints-Patriots preseason game and got a big ovation when shown on the screen.
The preseason schedule is out today. As was announced previously, the Celtics will start with two games in Europe on October 5 and 7. They'll then return to the states for two games each against the Knicks, Nets, and Sixers beginning on October 13 and running through October 21. We even have 2 back to backs in the preseason. All Celtics preseason games will be televised on Comcast SportsNet New England and also aired on the radio on WEEI 93.7 FM/ 850 AM.
Here is a run down of the preseason games along with location and time. It won't be the same without last year's preseason MVP, Jermaine O'Neal, but I'm sure we'll get through without him somehow.
I know this isn't Celtics related, but it was too good not to share. In today's Olympic quarterfinal game between France and Spain, things got a little bit heated as France's Nicholas Batum hit Spain's Juan Carlos Navarro below the belt. As you can see, it wasn't accidental, either.
Now, that's not the best part, it was Batum's explanation for it afterwards that was priceless. From Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski
"Iwanted to give him a good reason to flop," Batum said.
Batum was angry with the Spanish guards for falling to the floor for what he believed was incidental contact throughout Spain's 66-59 quarterfinal victory over France at North Greenwich Arena.
Asked by Yahoo! Sports if he believed his punch to the groin had given Navarro "good reason," Batum smiled and said, "I hope so."
I posted a video last week with Red's answer to flopping, but I think Batum may have just topped that one.
There's a bit more to the story going back to Spain's game with Brazil in the preliminary rounds. Many on the French team believe that Brazil purposely tanked the 4th quarter of that game with Brazil in order to get a better matchup in the next round. When told that his actions might not have been showing the true Olympic spirit, he replied "Do you think if you lost a game on purpose, that's the Olympic spirit?" Things are getting mighty testy in these Olympic games. There was no love lost between Argentina and team USA in their last game and they face each other again on Friday. Should be a good game.
I came across this picture and thought it was too great not to put up. That is our own Rajon Rondo doing a major dunk back when he was at UK. This kid has some serious hops. With Rondo's passing and ball handling usually taking center stage, we don't really think of him as a high flyer like we do say, Russell Westbook. But, this photo proves that he can get up there. Those huge hands don't hurt for gripping the ball for dunking either. I have a feeling that whatever this kid puts his mind to, he could do, and do very well. I'm not expecting him in the dunk contest any time soon, though. I'll settle for another appearance in the Skills Challenge, and, of course, the All Star Game.
Cedric Maxwell and Avery Bradley have been spending quite a bit of time together recently, putting on clinics for kids and dedicating home court makeovers. Even though Avery is still rehabbing his two surgically repaired shoulders, he enjoyed the interaction with the children and their parents.
Celtic Pride is a phrase that is kicked around a lot by Celtics fans and the media. Celtic Pride was the name of a publication I used to subscribe to back in the 80's. It was a magazine style monthly publication that included stories from behind the scenes. It was really great to get that issue every month, especially for those of us out of the area who didn't get the local news on the team. But, along with the glory years, the publication went by the wayside.
Celtic Pride is also the name of a movie starring Dan Akroyd and Daniel Stern as two rabid fans of the Boston Celtics. Mike O'Hara (Stern) and Jimmy Flaherty (Aykroyd) are die-hards in the truest sense of the word. They're the type of season ticket holders who go to every game wearing green and they eat, drink, and breathe the Celtics. In the movie, the Celtics have reached the NBA finals, and the series is knotted at 3-3. Looking for an advantage for their beloved Celtics, Mike and Jimmy decide to meet the star opposing player, Utah Jazz bad boy Lewis Scott (played by Damon Wayans) at a bar, get him drunk, then kidnap him while he's out cold. In the end, the die hard Celtic fans have to cheer for the Jazz in order to avoid being charged with kidnapping. I may be the only one on the face of the earth who actually liked this movie and even bought the DVD of it. The Celtic Pride in this movie is that of the fans for the team, so much so that they would do anything to help their team win. Around the league, Celtics fans are known for their fanaticism and being fans of the most storied franchise in the NBA is a good reason to be proud. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
Yesterday, I posted a photo of Rondo and KG partying with Snoop Doggy Lion or whatever his name is. Today we have updates on a few more Celtics and what they are up to in this offseason.
Avery Bradley has been rehabbing his two surgically repaired shoulders, but he has also been out giving back to the community. First up is a video of Avery joining with Cedric Maxwell in visiting children at Children's Hospital.
One of the biggest question marks of the offseason is Jeff Green. First of all, over a month ago, it was announced that Jeff Green's signing was imminent. They had agreed on the contract and it would be signed any day. Then on July 14, Danny Ainge introduced the newest Celtics including Green, Terry, Bass, and Wilcox. At the time, neither Green nor Terry were signed but again, we were told that the signings were imminent. The hold on Terry's contract was that Danny was trying to work a sign and trade to save the MLE to sign Courtney Lee. When that was no longer possible, Terry was officially signed. And still we wait on Jeff Green.
There is no shortage of discussion on what the possible holdup is. If you go to any Celtics message board, you will find at least one thread on what the hold up on his contract is. We have heard nothing official from the Celtics so fans are left to their imaginations. Sadly it's too close to the weeks leading up to his surgery when he wasn't playing but no explanation was given other than it was personal. So, it's no surprise that many of the conjectures involve his health. Some feel that maybe he still has not been fully cleared by doctors as fully healthy, and that brings up the concern that he may not be cleared at all. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
Wait until next year - if I had a dollar for every time I said that phrase, I would be rich today. Even in the worst of times for the Celtics, I just could never give up on them. It was always this year may have been bad, but wait until next year. The Celtics always bounce back.
Times were great in the 60's when I first started following the Celtics. Every year was a championship year. There were a few years in the 70's when the Celtics faltered, like the 1969-70 season where they finished out of the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. But 2 years later they were back in the playoffs and 2 years after that, they were champions again. After winning the championship again in 1976, the Celtics once again hit a dry spell that lasted until the 1979-80 season when Larry Bird joined the team. The 80's were a fun time to be a Celtics fan as they were contenders every season and won 3 more championships. Then, tragedy hit in 1986 with the death of Len Bias just after their 16th championship and the Celtics would not recover.
Over the next 21 years, things went from bad to worse for the franchise. In the late 80's and early 90's, there was always hope because they had Larry Bird. When Larry was on the court, anything could happen. But, injuries had slowed even Larry Bird to the point where he couldn't work the magic that he once did. Then in 1992, Larry Bird retired. At the time, the hopes that had been pinned on Bird were transferred to Reggie Lewis. Reggie Lewis had developed into a great player and assumed Larry's mantle as team Captain. I could still say "Wait until next year" and believe that next year the Celtics would once again be contenders. But then, in 1993, tragedy once again struck as Reggie Lewis collapsed on the court and died. The Celtics lost their Captain and once again, it would devastate the team for years to come. The 1993-94 Celtics finished 32-50 and out of the playoffs once again. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
Ben Rohrbach over on WEEI's Green Street is featuring this photo of KG and Rondo hanging out with Snoop Dogg Lion or whatever he is calling himself these days. So hard to keep up with these name changes. Much has been said lately of the Celtics being Rondo's team now and that Rondo is now the leader. So, Celtics need to pay attention to what their leader is doing, I would think.
Rondo is sporting a shirt with "High" written on it. While much may be written into that sartorial choice, I don't think we need to schedule a one on one intervention with Chris Herren just yet. I prefer to think it's because Rondo is high on life and basketball. And maybe that's describing his vertical leap. The WEEI piece mentions Snoop's copious use of weed. I may be wrong, but KG hasn't played at the level he plays at for this long by messing around with drugs. And, he knows what it takes to win and he's not going to stand for his point guard doing it either. Still, I imagine Danny's going to be calling Rondo and making a few suggestions about his choice of shirts. I don't think that's exactly the image he'd want his players putting out there. Red would have made that call within minutes of seeing that photo. No doubt about it. I love the last line of Ben's piece however.
You’ll also notice Rondo is sporting a “high.” t-shirt from a clothing line created by Los Angeles-based rapper Domo Genesis of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All fame. Nothing to see here Danny Ainge. Move along.
Hall of Fame center Arnie Risen died Saturday morning in Beachwood, Ohio. He was 87 years old. Risen had suffered from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. His lung cancer had been in remission.
He is mostly a forgotten figure to most Celtics fans today, but in the early fifties, he was a very recognizable player to NBA fans of that generation. He played 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Jets of the NBL, The Rochester Royals, and the Boston Celtics. He was a 6'9" very wiry and agile pivotman who was a thorn in the side of contemporaries like George Mikan,Alex Groza and Larry Foust. Including his years in the NBL, he scored over 9,000 points in his career and pulled down 5,000 rebounds in his later years in the NBA. They didn't record rebounds during his first 5 pro seasons.
Arnie Risen played for the Celtics from 1955 through 1958. In his first season with the Celtics, his scoring average dipped below double figures for the first time in 11 pro seasons. But Risen played a very crucial role for the Celtics that year. In the early weeks of the season, Risen held down the middle along with Jack Nichols and a talented rookie named Tom Heinsohn while they waited for their other prize rookie, Bill Russel, to return from winning an Olympic Gold Medal. It was that same year that Risen won his second NBA Championship ring. The first was earned with Rochester in 1951. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.
Arnie Risen, right, speaks with Bill Russell during at a ceremony on April 13, 2007 that honored the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Boston Celtics winning the NBA championship. / By Jesse D. Garrabrant, NBAE/Getty Images
Back in December, the Globe reported that Kevin Garnett was purchasing a minor stake in Roma LLC, a soccer club recently purchased by a US group that includes owners Thomas DiBenedetto of the Red Sox and James Pallotta of the Celtics. KG is a knowledgeable soccer fan and plays the game as part of his off-season conditioning program. LeBron James recently made a similar investment in soccer club, Liverpool FC.
Now, fast forward to today, and the Globe is reporting that Herr Stern has blocked KG's bid to become part owner in the club because one of the club owners is also part owner of the Celtics.
‘If you enter into a business agreement with the owner of a team that doesn’t involve playing service, there are potential problems,’ a league source said. ‘Maybe not in this case. But there is a chance of, say, making a contract a lot larger.’ James is allowed to invest in Liverpool because Fenway Sports Group has no connection with the NBA. ‘With LeBron, there is no tie-in whatsoever, so it’s a different deal,’ the source said. ‘It’s like having a business relationship with Nike. We make it simple — you can’t have a business deal with your team, or any other team, because there is the possibility of an underhanded deal there. It’s pretty clear-cut.’”
Obviously, Herr Stern believes that since he is an underhanded type person, and does underhanded things all the time, everyone else is going to be underhanded also. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
Last season, I cancelled my subscription to Insider because I was mad at the NBA for all the lockout nonsense that was going on. This season, after Danny re-signed KG and signed Jason Terry, I subscribed again. I'm excited about this season for the Celtics and I want to savor every big of it.
