Tag: brad wanamaker

WATCH: Best of Boston in the Disney restart bubble – Brad Wanamaker

Watch all of the best of Boston Celtics point guard Brad Wanamaker’s play so far in the Disney restart bubble in this video.

While he may not be a flashy scorer, Boston Celtics reserve point guard Brad Wanamaker is the team’s steadying force on the second unit, able to use his veteran presence to efficiently add offense with few mistakes.

With most of the Celtics’ talent concentrated on the starting unit, most of the scoring has come from there as well.

But there have been plenty of moments where the second string has been called on to help carry the load, and when it is answered, more often than not it’s been Wanamaker picking up the phone this season, his second with Boston.

In the Disney restart seeding games, the Philadelphia native has scored 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game with the Celtics while shooting 90 % from the free throw line in just 19.3 minutes per game.

Watch all of his best moments in the bubble so far in the video embedded above — we’re less than an hour away from the Celtics taking the floor against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

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Warriors’ Draymond Green offers ‘cerebral’ analysis of Brad Wanamaker

The Golden State Warriors big man had some heady analysis of the Boston Celtics reserve guard — we’ll show ourselves out.

Golden State Warriors defensive specialist Draymond Green has been keeping busy as a part-time analyst with the crew at TNT in recent days as his Warriors are not among the 22 invited teams in the so-called Disney ‘bubble,’ offering up pearls of wisdom about several teams participating in the Orlando-area restart.

The Golden State big man had some sharp takes on whether Houston Rockets’ star James Harden was taken for granted in the MVP race, as well as where former teammate Kevin Durant ranks among all-time scorers.

But the former Defensive Player of the Year saved his most cerebral take of all for the Boston Celtics.

And when we say cerebral, we mean it — literally.

Sitting in on Friday’s blowout win over the defending champion Toronto Raptors, Green offered the following gem up for our consideration:

“Brad Wanamaker got the biggest head in the NBA by far.”

It’s unclear exactly how the Michigan State product compiled the biometric data necessary to arrive at such a firm hypothesis, but there’s at least one thing we can all agree on even if we have a different theory on who has the biggest cranium in the league —

Wanamaker’s domepiece does not look like a tomato.

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Celtics showed their depth with no 25-point scorer in blowout win

Seven players scored in double figures during the Celtics’ blowout win Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets.

The Boston Celtics really don’t bank on any of their top players going off to earn wins.

Sure, Jayson Tatum scored 30-plus points seven times during February, but Boston was still 4-1 when he didn’t score 30 or more in the month; the Celtics were 5-2 when he did.

Tatum’s quality performances were more indicative of his personal development — Boston wasn’t getting any better or worse.

And on Wednesday, the Celtics continued to prove why their balanced scoring works. Jaylen Brown scored a team-high 21 points and led the Celtics to a 149-115 blowout win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Six other players scored in double figures, and according to ESPN Stats & Info, Boston scored the most points without boasting a 25-point scorer since the Seattle SuperSonics accomplished the feat on April 14, 1994. The Sonics beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 150-101, and 10 players scored in double figues. Detlef Schrempf had a team-high 21 points.

Throughout the season, the Celtics have had a plethora of options. Brown attacks the rim well. Tatum is showing he’ll be one of the league’s most sound scorers for years to come. Gordon Hayward can score from multiple places on the floor. Kemba Walker shakes defenders for easy pull-up jumpers.

Tatum, Walker, Brown, Hayward and Smart are each averaging double figures in points per game. The trio of Tatum, Walker and Brown are each averaging 20 or more a game, making for a three-pronged attack that’s tough to stop.

With the Celtics at third place in the Eastern Conference, their next seeding game will be Friday against the Toronto Raptors.

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Pierce, Deuce among several famous virtual fans at Celtics-Blazers

A number of prominent persons in the wider Boston Celtics family were ‘present’ as virtual fans in the contest vs. Portland Sunday.

In trying to make up for the lack of fans in the audience at the games being played in Disney’s NBA restart being held at the Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, the league has introduced 17-foot video screens with virtual fans made possible by a partnership with Microsoft and Michelob Ultra.

And in Sunday afternoon’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, a number of some of the Celtics’ biggest fans were part of the virtual audience.

We saw recently-retired Boston legend Paul Pierce cheering from the sidelines, and Deuce Tatum “close” by, watching his dad wreck shop in a fresh new haircut.

Kemba Walker’s mom Andrea — normally a staple at in-person home games — was present, as was reserve guard Brad Wanamaker’s daughter.

While some of the ‘enhancements’ the NBA has added to address the unusual circumstances created by having a season in the midst of a pandemic have proven dubious (the crowd noise is just creepy, overwhelming and fake sounding, for example), this wrinkle is actually pretty cool (and also a little creepy).

It doesn’t really do much to reinforce a ‘home’ game — as this tilt was — but it’s definitely worth hanging onto.

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On this day: Wilkins, James sign; Wanamaker, Krstić, Olsen born

Former Celtics Dominique Wilkins and Mike James signed with Boston today, and Brad Wanamaker, Nenad Krstić and Bud Olsen were born today.

On this day in 1994, Hall of Fame small forward Dominique Wilkins signed with the Boston Celtics in free agency.

The Human Highlight Film — as Wilkins had come to be called for his frequent, flashy dunks — went on to win a gold medal in the 1994 World Championship of Basketball with the so-called “Dream Team 2” before joining the team in the fall.

Wilkins would play but one season with the Celtics, putting up a very respectable 17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in his age 35 season, displaying an exceptionally rare high level longevity.

After the season was over, Wilkins would head overseas to play for Greek club Panathinaikos, with whom he would win a EuroLeague championship.

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Video games, golf, very big bikes: how the Celtics relax in the bubble

Reserve Boston Celtics guard Brad Wanamaker related how the Celtics were making use of their downtime after practice on Wednesday.

The Boston Celtics have been finding ways to unwind after practice, and some of them are not what you would expect.

Reserve guard Brad Wanamaker related how he was using his free time in the Disney ‘bubble’ while speaking with reporters at the post-practice media availability session; “I’ve just been relaxing in my room,” he said, “for the most part.”

“I’m playing a video game, [and] talking to a lot of family members over this whole pandemic,” added the Pitt product.

“I was able to catch up with all the family and friends that I haven’t been talking to as much I would liked to have to. But I’ve been chilling; [I] went to the pool yesterday with a couple of guys for about five hours [and] went on a bike ride with [Daniel] Theis one night, so I’ve been trying to make the best of it.”

And it wasn’t just 6-foot-3 Wanamaker or 6-foot-9 Theis riding bicycles; 7-foot-5 center Tacko Fall ran into them on a bike of his own at one point, captured by teammate Vincent Poirier.

“It was funny because he rode up on us when we were at the pool and we were like, ‘Tacko’s big ass [is] on the bike … So it was funny when he pulled up, but it was great to see him out there trying to enjoy himself, too, though.”

While the Celtics cannot leave the Disney NBA campus for the duration of their stay without special permission, there’s a host of activities to keep them busy.

Several Celtics, including Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker and Grant Williams have been taking up golf, and several other Boston players have been sighted going in for extra work on their shot in the evenings, according to head coach Brad Stevens.

With the first scrimmage of the restart scheduled just eight days away, they’d better get in their rest and relaxation in while they can; games against other teams will quickly be followed by seeding games, and the playoffs not long after.

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Celtics say their goodbyes as they travel to Disney for ’19-20 restart

The Boston Celtics packed their bags and said their goodbyes as they traveled to the NBA’s Disney campus for the 2019-20 season restart.

The Boston Celtics said their goodbyes to family and friends Wednesday afternoon as they departed for points south, headed to the Disney NBA campus at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The team travelled to the Orlando-area 2019-20 season restart location hosted at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex where the team will remain until at least the end of the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

And while families will be able to join players after the first round of the postseason, the stay could last as long as until mid-October if the team were to make the Finals.

Veteran forward Gordon Hayward and center Vincent Poirier will leave the NBA campus briefly for the birth of their respective children in September, but even that is nearly two months distant.

Hayward’s wife, Robynne, related on Instagram that even with that planned reunion coming, the departure was still tough.

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Lots and lots of tears today. We knew NBA means lots of travel, but not for months at a time. We’re so grateful for the time we’ve had together but in a way that makes it harder especially for the girls. They’ve got to do so many things together throughout this time which has been so neat to watch. They are so in love with their dad he’s the ultimate playmate and tends to break my “rules” haha so he’s obviously the fun parent. He stays with them until they fall asleep at night every night, so lots of changes happening. Next time we see Gordon we’ll have our baby boy! We miss you so much and are almost done crying, but we love you and we’re so excited to watch you play! 💕

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“Lots and lots of tears today,” she said.

“We knew NBA means lots of travel, but not for months at a time. We’re so grateful for the time we’ve had together, but in a way, that makes it harder, especially for the girls. They’ve got to do so many things together, but in a way that makes it harder especially for the girls.”

All-Star swingman Jayson Tatum had to say goodbye to his son Deuce as well — the trip to be the longest he’s been apart from his 2-year-old in his life.

Also a dad, reserve guard Brad Wanamaker showed off a pillow with his kids on it as he boarded the team plane.

While his family is just a short drive away in Orlando, he won’t be able to see them in person before the second round of the playoffs due to NBA protocol.

Poirier could be seen bringing the essentials on the plane — namely, a monitor to play his games on when the team has downtime.

All in all, even for the players like Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart who have no children, the extended separation from loved ones will be tough.

But the team appears to be united in their desire to compete for an NBA championship in the sunshine state, even if the decision was a tough call for many.

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WATCH: Gordon Hayward, Brad Wanamaker talk Disney restart

Boston Celtics veterans Gordon Hayward and Brad Wanamaker spoke at length about the Disney-hosted restart Friday.

As the Boston Celtics get ready for the resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season at the Disney campus the league will call home until mid-October, they have been hosting daily media availability sessions with players after they finish their mandatory individual workouts.

With dates set for the team’s travel to the Orlando-area sports complex hosting the NBA set along with a schedule for three scrimmages to take place in late July, the restart is finally starting to come together.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic that interrupted the season in the first place nearly four months ago continues to grow in Florida.

On the brighter side, the Celtics continue to test negative for the virus while other franchises sort out a fair amount of positive cases among the 350-odd players participating in the Disney-hosted restart.

On Friday, reserve guard Brad Wanamaker and veteran forward Gordon Hayward shared their feelings on these and several other important issues from racial justice protests to the birth of Hayward’s next child and his need to leave the ‘bubble’ for several days were discussed.

Watch the videos embedded above to hear both of these Celtics’ thoughts during Friday’s media availability at the Auerbach Center practice facilities in Waltham, Massachusetts.

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Boston’s Brad Wanamaker talks Disney restart, team chemistry

Boston Celtics reserve guard Brad Wanamaker spoke with reporters about his feelings on the Disney-hosted restart and the team’s chemistry.

Ahead of the Disney-hosted ‘Orlando bubble’ hosted at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in lake Buena Vista, Florida, the Boston Celtics continued their daily media availability sessions via telepresence with team beat writers.

The previous several days featured forward Gordon Hayward, centers Enes Kanter and Daniel Theis, and point Kemba Walker as well as head coach Brad Stevens since the start of mandatory individual workouts began in July 1st.

Today’s session began with reserve point guard Brad Wanamaker, who has been spending time with his family — who ironically live in Orlando — before traveling back to Massachusetts to start working on his conditioning ahead of the restart.

“It was tough to leave my kids behind (now), but it’s part of the sacrifice,” he offered via the Athletic’s Jared Weiss.

Regarding popular chatter that any title won in the so-called ‘bubble’ would have an asterisk next to it, the Pitt product wasn’t buying it according to team reporter Taylor Snow; “To me, a championship is a championship regardless of the situation.”

That the veteran guard will be playing for his next contract wasn’t lost on Wanamaker. “I’m going to be a free agent, so that’s in the back of my mind.”

He believes the chemistry driving some of Boston’s 2019-20 success is still there, per the Boston Globe’s Nicole Yang.

“There’s egos on the team, but ours don’t stand out as much because everybody wants to see each other win and do well. That’s another advantage for us. We all want to see each other do well, regardless of whether you’re playing 10 minutes that game or 30 minutes.”

“We all cheer for each other,” he added via the Celtics, “so that’s special to have within a team.”

With games being without fans, there have been a number of suggestions on how to liven up broadcasts, and at least one was not especially attractive to the former Panther.

“Hopefully we’re not mic’d up and they don’t pick up too much of the language, because guys will definitely be talking trash,” said Wanamaker.

However the league decides to tackle the unique conditions generated by the exigencies of pandemic basketball, expect creativity.

While Wanamaker’s fears of ubiquitous hot mics may not come to pass, there will likely be some kind of initiative to turn the highly unusual situation into a positive.

And while live mics in live games might be an FCC nightmare in terms of obscenities, there’s probably a sizeable contingents of fans who would actually want to hear the expletive-laden exchanges soon to grace the Disney NBA campus.

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WATCH: Kemba Walker takes us back to the step-back that started it all

Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Kemba Walker breaks down the step back that put him on the map at UConn with Celtics team reporter Marc D’Amico.

On Thursday, the Celtics Wire highlighted all the best of Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Kemba Walker’s best step-back jumpers of his pro career, spanning everything he’s done with the Celtics and much of his best daggers from his time with the Charlotte Hornets.

But the one we didn’t share — arguably, the most important of any of them — was a step-back that launched the most epic NCAA title run in the Tournament’s history — fresh off of a fairly absurd run to the Big East title.

In many ways, the future contours of Walker’s pro career were already present in that run, which caught the eye of Hornets owner Michael Jordan and set the UConn product’s career down the path it took today.

Present on that floor in the video Walker and Celtics team reporter Marc D’Amico break down is Pitt product and current teammate Brad Wanamaker.

The final boss of the ex-Husky’s NCAA run was none other than his current coach Brad Stevens’ Butler squad — back again for another shot at a title the season after another teammate (Gordon Hayward) swung at Duke and missed.

Watch the video embedded above to see Cardiac Kemba discuss the iconic moment that would one day reunite the fanbases of the University of Connecticut and the Boston Celtics again as he unleashed one of the daggers behind the late-clock killings from whence that nickname derives.

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