C’s pass chemistry class
New guys fit well on, off court
The Celtics started a new drinking game this summer, with keywords like “high character” and “chemistry” designed to salve the injury and shock of the last month.
While introducing Kemba Walker and Enes Kanter to the media yesterday, Celtics management clearly had talking points.
President of basketball operations Danny Ainge, who later admitted he had a good indication Kyrie Irving was leaving last March, opened by saying, “We’re very excited about what they bring in many facets of the game but also as people. And who they are is just as important as what they are on the court and what they represent.”
Celtics co-owner Wyc Gousbeck was up next, saying, “Just to welcome these two great people of high character who chose the Celtics for their tradition and pride and for the fans.”
Walker was demure on the chemistry issue he is being counted on to correct, saying, “I’m easy to get along with.”
Kanter gladly swung for the fences when, asked why he chose No. 11, appropriated the much-dissected line from Irving’s Garden-situated Nike commercial, and said, “I wanted to be the reason nobody else did. I had to say it.”
Walker chose No. 8 in honor of his May birthday, and laughed when asked about all of those Celtics fans who can now run their old Antoine Walker jerseys through the wash.
He made his move north after eight years in Charlotte, of course, in search of something better. It helps to have the familiar face of Brad Stevens at the head of the bench, even if Walker has only known the Celtics coach as an opponent.
But Walker smiled when thinking about the prolific roles of his two predecessors — Irving and Isaiah Thomas.
“The point guards are very successful. They score a lot,” he said with a laugh. “But yeah, the point guards are very successful. He’s a great coach. I know he watches tons of film. I’ve just been around him a few days and I know that.
“But I’m excited. I’m excited to get things going and learn him some more, him learning me more,” Walker added. “I only got a chance to play against him so there’s still a lot that we both have to learn from each other, but we’ll get there. There’s nothing more important to me than having a great relationship with the head coach, so we’ll get there.”
The Celtics coach has certainly seen the best of Walker, starting during his AAU days with the New York Gauchos and peaking when Walker led UConn to an ugly win over Stevens’ Butler Bulldogs in the 2011 national championship game. Walker was named Final Four MVP, and matured into a top flight scorer in the NBA.
Most recently, two days after scoring 60 points against Philadelphia, Walker strafed the Celtics with a 43point performance last November in Charlotte.
“He got to 60 the game before us, and that’s always a bad feeling when the best player on the other team, who you are going to play in the next game, is going like that,” Stevens said. “I’ve been a fan of Kemba’s for a long time. I saw Kemba play in high school on the AAU circuit. I remember those New York Gauchos teams well.
“Obviously I saw him too close and personal when he was at Connecticut. And I’ve always been a huge fan of his. Not just the way he plays, but as a person and a competitor. I got a chance to coach him for one day already in his career in the All-Star Game a few years ago. Just being around him and knowing everybody that’s coached him he has all the stuff that the best have, and he’s worked really hard to put himself in the position he’s in and we’re happy he’s here.”
Walker called his decision to leave Charlotte — a team unwilling to pay him a full max contract — as “one of the hardest decisions of my life.”
But just as the Celtics desperately needed a major free agent to want them this summer after the rejections of Irving and Al Horford, Walker needed something better, too. His arrival keeps the Celtics relevant in an Eastern Conference that will again have opportunity for overachieving teams.
“I’m not a rah-rah guy,” Walker said of his personal style. “If I have something to say, I’m going to say it. But I’m more of a guy that says something in a positive way. Everybody is different, and you have to talk to guys in different ways.
“But yeah, I just let things flow. I feel like if I’m doing something, if I’m working hard, I feel like that’s how guys have to be. I kind of lead by example for the most part. That’s the kind of guy I am. I’m never going to really scream at anybody or anything like that. But I think chemistry is important. I think the team has to be together. That’s the one thing throughout my career I’ve tried to do team activities and small things like that.
“Seeing (the other players) out here, It’ll be easy for me to get along with them. I’m looking forward to it.”