Bryant always wary of C’s
Respect for franchise more than just on floor
We’ve written a number of times about Kobe Bryant’s respect for the Celtics, and maybe you’re thinking that was pretty easy for him when he and the Lakers were meeting them in the NBA Finals twice in a threeyear span.
But the measure of Kobe’s opinion of the franchise ran a lot deeper.
In the middle of February 2014, months after Danny Ainge had gone into heavy reconstruction mode by trading Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn, I checked in with Bryant. In Brad Stevens’ first season, the Celts were 19-35 on their way to a 25-57 mark — fourthworst in the league. The C’s used 19 players that season — did you forget the Chris Babb/Vander Blue era? — and that was before the advent of two-way contracts.
But Kobe didn’t expect the cloud to linger.
“No matter what, Boston is always going to be Boston,” he said. “You don’t ever get the feeling they’re going to be bad for very long. They’re always going to find a way to get back into it. It’s the same with us. That’s what happens with the great organizations.
“The one thing I will say about (the Lakers) is that they’ve always remained calm. They’ve always remained poised in the middle of a storm. I think that’s really helped them make very, very smart decisions, where you don’t see us going into a tank for 10, 15, 17 years. You don’t see the Lakers organization doing that. I think they do a phenomenal job making the smart decisions and being patient. I know the Celtics have had some rough years, but they know what they’re doing. They always get through it.”
The position may have been best crystallized by an official from another team who was quite wary of the deal the Celts had made with the Nets.
“Off the record?” he said. “They scare the (expletive) out of me. If things go right for them in the draft and they’re able to use some of those other picks to make a deal or two, they could be right back in this thing.
“And when you look at some of the teams in our league that have been stuck in the mud for years, it has to be hard for them to watch Boston set themselves up so fast.”
He was right. The Celtics were back in the playoffs the next season and in the Eastern Conference finals two years after that.
Kobe wasn’t surprised.
Brown a survivor
The 76ers are hoping to use this All-Star break to get their bearings and move on after failing to live up to even their own expectations. They sit at 34-21 as the fifth seed in the East, and while things have calmed slightly with wins in their last three games, four straight losses — all on the road, where they are a woeful 9-19 — preceded home victories over Memphis, Chicago and the Clippers.
There have been some calls for Brett Brown’s firing, but the Portland, Maine, native has survived the tanking years and other manners of front office upheaval to make it into his seventh season on the bench.
Philadelphia’s roster just hasn’t worked as hoped after losing Jimmy Butler and J.J. Redick in the offseason and signing free agent Al Horford, who was removed from the starting lineup in the last game.
Brown may still be in trouble, but as of this writing, he’s hanging in and remains bullish on his club’s future.
“I have been fired every year I’ve been here, sometimes multiple times,” he told the Herald. “There always seems to be some type of speculation, and you end up being numb to it.”
The fact he’s been able to weather the journey from the “trust the process” losses to the point where consecutive conference semifinal eliminations aren’t nearly good enough is fairly remarkable. Most coaches wouldn’t have still been here as the decision-makers above him have changed.
“I truly feel like you’re a gatekeeper, and I mean this,” Brown said. “I feel like I’m a gatekeeper to a rebirth, trying to develop a culture, trying to establish things within how you organize your program that aren’t reflected so easily when you go out and play. You need to set up a program and what are the cultural pieces that matter most. You just move along. I love coaching the guys. I really like coaching them. And to say surprised (about the job speculation)? I’m numb to it. I just go coach and move along and do the best that you can and fight.
“I’ve gone through four general managers. I was one for three months, you know, after the Bryan (Colangelo) situation. I never wanted that job. It’s the last thing I wanted to do. But we’ve been through a lot here, and I’m grateful to be here through all of it.”
Bottom line: Guys from Maine are hard to kill.
“(Expletive)-A,” Brown said with a smile.
Eye on Sullinger
Evan Turner is hopeful former Celtic teammate (and Ohio State brother) Jared Sullinger can make it back to the NBA. The Celts’ first round pick (21 overall) in 2012 last played in the league for Toronto in 2016-17. He’s since played in China, where injuries got in the way.
“I think Sully’s really just trying to heal up,” Turner said. “Sometimes when it comes to basketball and everything, you know, there’s windows to get into this league. On top of that fact, as adults, as individuals, as humans, every now and then sometimes you kind of rebel in the sense of just like being judged or being critiqued or being, like, ‘(Expletive) it. I’ll just take my ball and go home.’ You know what I mean? Sully’s an NBA talent, and I think the first thing for him was just injury, you know, getting healthy and then also family. He just had twins.”
When it was noted that Sullinger will turn just 28 on March 4, Turner said, “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. 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.”