Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker have been teammates since Walker signed with the Celtics last summer, including their time together with USA Basketball for the FIBA World Cup, but they will be on opposite sides in tonight’s All-Star Game, writes Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Tatum was drafted by Team LeBron while Walker went to Team Giannis, and they can’t wait to face each other on the court.
“Playing against Kemba’s going to be fun,” Tatum said. “Hopefully we get matched up once or twice so I can take him to the post. I’m going to go right at him, so that should be fun.”
“I’m going to hit him with his own move,” Walker responded. “I already got it down pat. I’m going to hit him with a step-back to the right or left, which he usually does. I’m going to get him. He’s been talking some trash, I seen. Said he’s going at me.”
There’s more Celtics news to pass along:
- Tatum failed to defend his title in Saturday’s Skills Competition, being eliminated in the first round by the Pacers‘ Domantas Sabonis, notes Marc D’Amico of NBA.com. Tatum blamed the defeat on a lack of practice time. “I didn’t get no practice in before. I shoulda practiced,” he said. “They let you practice like 30 minutes before they open the doors or something. I got busy taking pictures and other stuff.”
- Kevin Garnett expressed thanks on Saturday for the Celtics’ decision to retire his number and took a swipe at the Timberwolves, who still haven’t made that decision, relays Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “Listen, I have some great years in Minny, but when comes to management, it’s not even close,” Garnett said. “Minny, they run their team one way. Boston has a culture of basketball. They run it a whole other way and I respect that.”
- Evan Turner believes his former Celtics teammate, Jared Sullinger, is capable of returning to the NBA, Bulpett adds in a separate story. Sullinger, 27, is in his third year of playing in China. “He’s supposed to be entering his prime. I mean, it’s crazy when you play with him and he’s not in the league,” Turner said. “But, I mean, the league it’s not easy, but sometimes it’s little stuff. It’s right fit. It’s timing. You know, you went from signing with Toronto, broke his foot, was rehabbing and they trade him off to an organization that was kind of like rebuilding (Phoenix, which waived him a day later), just trying to get rid of stuff, and that’s how he ended up lost in the shuffle. So unfortunately that’s what happens every now and then.”
Guys making lame excuses for meaningless sideshows. Gotta love today’s athletes.
Some people like to know the reasons.
Ya I thought his points on Sullinger were reasonable.
He could fit at the end of most benches as extra big man depth
Have you seen him play in the TBT? Dude looks ancient.
Wilkins still complains about losing the dunk contest to Jordan. Nobody needs the old man talk. The world will keep turning without you.
Minnesota has had one truly great player since they became a team, and that guy is badmouthing them without being prompted. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about Glenn Taylor, what does?
The NBA needs to come up with a system for forcing owners to sell. Between Taylor, Sarver, Reinsdorf, and Dolan, the NBA is probably losing hundreds of millions in annual revenue due to gross mismanagement. All of these franchises have underachieved consistently the last 20+ years, and all of them have owners who most players and coaches criticize. They need to be forced out, because they’re costing the NBA lots of money.
Likewise, Jordan and Ranadive are working their way onto my list. Only the threat of a forced sale is sufficient to make them implement the proper management and systems.
And fans appreciate knowing that owners are held to the same standard as bad coaches and bad players…do a bad job for long enough, and you’re fired.
Some teams have to lose games. If those teams all won a lot over the past 20 years you would just be ranting and raving about some other teams.
The Suns have certainly been above average the past 20 years, the Bulls probably have as well. The Knicks and TWolves haven’t been but again, some teams have to lose. Though at least with them you can point to way more poor decisions than good ones.
We know it when we see it but coming up with a legal-type definition is more difficult which I believe is implied by your comment. Be that as it may using historical data to define a lack of success and putting owners on a clock to succeed should at least be discussed. That alone may light a fire. The thing I like the most is that owners are put in the same position as the players…successfully compete or you are out and someone else gets a chance.
I agree that a metric is a challenge, but I think it has something to do with the standard deviation between seasons (based on wins) and the average record. A high deviation is a sign of a team that’s changing (which might explain why they’re losing), but a low deviation combined with a low average win count tells the tale I bet.
The Timberpuppies have been plagued by inept management, clueless ownership, wasted NBA Draft opportunities, poorly thought out trades, under performing players, and (with a few exceptions) coaches that are in over their heads.
Since 1989 inception can be summed up with……
YUK !!!
(SOUND OF THE BUZZER !!!!)
Theres a few Power Forwards/Centres available on free agency that would be useful.
Kennith Faired Jarred Sullinger Greg Monroe Jeff Green
Hmm now that you grouped those 4 together, I see why theres not a spot for all 4 similar players in this league.