Category: Reactions

Twitter reacts to the return of Joe Johnson to the Boston Celtics after nearly 20 years

It made for quite the reunion in Boston’s win over the Cavs.

The Boston Celtics were reunited with their No. 10 pick of the 2001 NBA draft — Joe Johnson — after nearly 20 years apart on Wednesday, with Johnson logging his first minutes for any team in the league since the 2017-18 season with a 2-point outing in a 111 – 101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers that same evening.

It might not seem like much, but fans were excited for the perceived righting of the wrong committed by unpopular former team president and head coach Rick Pitino all those years ago when Pitino dealt away the future star for a comparative pittance in return.

They were even more ecstatic when ISO Joe sunk his sole basket attempt late in the win, and many fans and analysts took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the signing and Little Rock native’s return to action.

WATCH: Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom responds to criticism over his ‘Tucker Carlson’ appearance

The Boston big man appears to have walked back his earlier comments suggesting Americans ‘shut up’ and stop criticizing their government, but is that enough?

Most fans of the Boston Celtics and NBA more generally have heard or read Boston big man Enes Kanter Freedom’s controversial statement on the controversial Fox “Tucker Carlson” television show on which he suggested Americans “shut up” and stop criticizing their government by now.

Now, in a recent episode of the “Rematch” podcast with BasketballNews.com’s Etan Thomas, Freedom took some time to talk about those comments, his appearance on the show, and his activism more generally. “What I mean is people should feel lucky, and at least they are not in a country like Turkey, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela, Belarus, and many other countries,” related the Celtics center. “I would never tell a person to shut up” (about what is wrong with the US domestically).

Has the nascent activist come to terms with the responsibilities of using one’s platform for the ostensible greater good? Or does he still have work to do on managing the delicate balance between recruiting powerful allies and becoming their pawns?

Watch the video embedded above, and decide for yourself.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: Celtics’ bench goes off, gets tech after Payton Pritchard hits 3 straight treys

Boston’s bench couldn’t contain their excitement.

The bench of the Boston Celtics absolutely lost its mind on the road in Moda Center as second-year point guard Payton Pritchard hit his third shot in a row from beyond the arc late in the Celtics’ 145 – 117 beatdown of a struggling Portland Trail Blazers squad down multiple, key players.

Pritchard, who has had to snatch his playing time in fits and starts so far this season while buried in a deeper depth chart for Boston in 2021-22, came into the game and started to sizzle quickly, hitting trey after trey on his way to 19 points in just 18 minutes of play while shooting 6-of-12 from the field and 5-of-10 from deep.

The celebrations got a little *too* intense, earning the Celtics a technical foul and an apology from head coach Ime Udoka to Portland for the exuberant bench celebration.

Watch the video embedded above courtesy of NBC Sports Boston to see the festivities for yourself.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Twitter reacts to unknown Boston Celtics player sporting Darth Vader costume pregame

Will we ever know Vader’s true identity?

We do not know why it happened (rumor has it that it is “Star Wars” night), but we have photo evidence — and from the Boston Celtics themselves. The team’s Twitter account posted a common tweet of several Celtics arriving at the arena for their contest against the Utah Jazz on Friday night, and everything seemed normal.

And then someone showed up to the game wearing a Darth Vader suit. As in, a full one that could pass for the arch-villain himself if we were actually in a galaxy far, far away instead of Salt Lake City, Utah and the Jazz’ home court.

NBA fans were perplexed, impressed, and on the hunt for who it might be — let’s take a look at some of the reactions.

Twitter reacts to Enes Kanter Freedom saying Americans should ‘keep their mouth shut’ and not criticize their government

Enes Kanter Freedom is getting a robust response to his words on Fox’s Tucker Carlson show.

Enes Kanter Freedom is so happy to have gotten the security that comes with the freedom his brand-new US citizenship provides that he literally changed his last name to “Freedom” on getting said citizenship this past Monday.

The Boston Celtics center, an outspoken defender of human rights abroad, went on another television show soon after getting his citizenship and spoke about his beliefs in ways which he might not be able to do in his native Turkey. But his choice of venue and words both might be in the midst of teaching Freedom an important lesson about freedom — let us explain.

Freedom appeared on Fox’s “Tucker Carlson Show” to talk about his freedom, a show — and network — which has had some controversial stances on issues Freedom himself has used his freedom to speak up and even protest about.

LeBron James reacts to Enes Kanter’s political criticism after Celtics blow out Lakers

The Los Angeles star downplayed Kanter’s critique after the loss.

Boston Celtics reserve center Enes Kanter is making waves with his politics, but his most recent political stance taking Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James to task for his alleged connections to Chinese forced labor camps producing the Nike sneakers James is a spokesperson for has stirred up a little controversy closer to home.

The two did not speak about Kanter’s criticism after the game, but in a post-game press conference, the Lakers star downplayed Kanter’s words. “I think if you know me, you know I don’t give too many people my energy,” James related via USA TODAY’s Analis Bailey. “He’s definitely not someone I would give my energy to. He’s trying to use my name to create an opportunity for himself. I definitely won’t comment too much on that.”

“He’s always had a word or two to say in my direction, and as a man, if you’ve got an issue with somebody, you really come up to him,” he added.

“He had his opportunity tonight. I seen him in the hallway, and he walked right by me.”

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: Boston Celtics alumnus Evan Turner interrupts Jayson Tatum’s presser after Lakers win

ET phoned home, literally.

After the Boston Celtics‘ 130 – 108 home statement win over the Los Angeles Lakers Friday evening, there were a lot of smiling faces in the Celtics locker room, and a few beloved Celtics alumni managed to join the team courtside — Hall of Famers Bill Russell and Paul Pierce were in attendance — with one former Celtic even making an unscripted appearance during All-Star forward Jayson Tatum’s postgame media availability session.

That would of course be former Boston wing and (last season) assistant coach Evan Turner, who had some jokes for the Celtics faithful that involved coming for the job of yet another Celtics alumnus not present to defend himself.

To see what Turnter was joking about, check out the video from the presser embedded below, courtesy of our friends over at CLNS Media’s YouTube channel.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Is Orlando’s Robin Lopez a Boston sports fan? Or just a big man with an odd sense of humor?

The Magic center had some Boston-related sports jokes on Twitter Wednesday.

Could it be that Orlando Magic big man Robin Lopez is a fan of Boston sports teams? After news broke that Staples Center, the home arena of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, will soon be known as “Crypto.com Arena” after the eponymous website for trading cryptocurrency purchased the naming rights to the arena, Lopez took to Twitter with some jokes as many did on Wednesday.

“Slightly disappointed AEG/Crypto.com Arena outbid the city of Boston, who was going to rename Staples Center ‘(expletive) The Lakers Go Pats’ Performing Arts Center,” jested the longtime Celtics foil, who is known to have a sense of humor to match his considerable size as a human being.

Whether it’s a dig at Bostonian sports fans — known to be among the most gung-ho around the league — or an admission on the part of Lopez he’d actually have preferred such a name, he was one of very many to make jokes about the awkward name for the new arena which certainly doesn’t roll off of one’s tongue.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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WATCH: Celtics Hall of Famer Dino Radja reacts to his best moments with Boston

The Croatian legend reflected on his best plays as a Celtic in this video.

Older fans of the Boston Celtics likely will recall the tenure of Hall of Fame Celtics big man Dino Radja as one of the few bright spots during the franchise’s darkest epoch, the so-called “wilderness era” between the end of the original big three of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish and the return to relevance in the early 2000s under fellow Boston alumnus and Hall of Famer Paul Pierce.

Radja saw his tenure in Boston shortened by injury, but he had plenty of memorable moments over the course of the four seasons he played for the Celtics (1993-1997).

In a recent video produced by the NBA, Radja sat down and reacted to the biggest moments of his Celtics career on video.

Watch the clip embedded above to see the very best of Radja in Boston, whether it is to reminisce or watch for the very first time.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Celtics fans, analysts react to rumored Jaylen Brown – Ben Simmons trade proposal

It did not go over well for the most part.

The Boston Celtics were tied to the Philadelphia 76ers via reported trade talks on Monday morning, linking interest from the Celtics in disgruntled point forward Ben Simmons that would potentially require the inclusion of All-Star forward Jaylen Brown.

As you might imagine, such a proposed trade did not go over well with fans and analysts alike, with everything from ire to humor brought to bear on any potential exchange of the two star forwards. We have already weighed in on our view of the ostensible trade and what we think the team should do, but we would be remiss if we did not share some of the more interesting responses to a Simmons – Brown trade.

Let’s take a look.