Celtics Bemoan 1-1 Series Tie Going into Home Advantage
BOSTON, MA — What the hell happened to the Boston Celtics? Who turned one of the proudest NBA franchises, loaded with some of the best young talent in the league and equipped with a great front office, into a collection of bellyachin’ whiners? You don’t hear the Suns complain nearly as much as the Celtics. And the Suns are AWFUL. Phoenix seems to collect a top 10 pick every year and lose even MORE games than the previous year. That is an impressive standard of futility.
What is there to complain about if you are a Boston Celtic? The Celtics get to play every home game at the Garden in front of thousands of rabid Celtic fans. Boston fans might be the best in the country. They love them some Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox. The Patriots have been dominant for almost two decades and Boston still celebrates a Super Bowl win like its 2001 all over again.
Boston has a GM who is willing to do whatever it takes to compete for championships. Danny Ainge shipped Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets for a bunch of draft picks and pocket lint! That is cold-blooded. Pierce and Garnett played alright after the trade, but their careers were trending downward. It was the right call. A tough call, but the right call. Trading away your most talented players for draft capital is extremely unpopular with the fans and with ownership. It can easily cost a GM his job if it doesn’t pan out. The only other GM to aggressively (and intentionally) acquire draft capital like Danny Ainge was Sam Hinkie. The polarizing Philadelphia GM was shown the door before his plan could ever come to fruition. The Sixers are now competing for the Eastern Conference Championship. Ainge has proven himself to be one of the best GMs in the league. He has provided the Celtics with enough talent to compete with the Warriors for an NBA title. This is far more than most of the other GMs in the league can claim. The Pelicans, Wizards, and Grizzlies don’t have a pot to piss in by comparison.
The Celtics have a coach who at age 42, is considered one of the best coaches in the NBA. Brad Stevens is a basketball maestro. He was instrumental in bringing his former player, Gordon Hayward, to Boston in free agency. Every player seems to love playing for Stevens, except the eternal malcontent, Kyrie Irving.
The only player probably more cancerous for a team than LeBron James is Kyrie Irving. It’s shocking that those two players coexisted on Cleveland for as long as they did. Irving is a fantastic player, but he always finds something to whine about even when he’s in a good situation. He chose to leave Cleveland so he could be THE guy on another team. Understandable. He is a great player in his own right and wants to blaze his own trails. Playing second fiddle to LeBron James is tough. So, he comes to Boston where he has a great team, organization, coach, etc. everything you could want from a basketball franchise. They win a lot of games, but the team goes through a rough patch in the process. Chemistry was off and players were unhappy with their roles. Now in the midst of their playoff run, reports are circulating suggesting Kyrie is going to New York this offseason. At the first sign of trouble (real or imagined) Kyrie is ready to bolt. Kyrie Irving is a tremendously talented basketball player, so why on earth is he hurting his own legacy with his mercenary mentality? He almost couldn’t damage his reputation more if he tried.
What would make the Celtics happy? They are the NBA equivalent of Eeyore.
“Wah why won’t team just rollover for us in the playoffs?”
“Everyone said we are so good. Winning games is hard!”
“I am ready for the offseason.”
I hope the Bucks spank them by 50 at the Garden.
