On this day, the Boston Celtics lost Fred Roberts to the Miami Heat in the 1988 NBA expansion draft, and Gary Payton and Javonte Green were born.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team lost power forward Fred Roberts in the 1988 NBA expansion draft, held to populate two new teams set to join the league that coming season, the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat.
Technically speaking, the Heat drafted Roberts with the fifth overall pick of the expansion draft but immediately traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for a collection of draft assets. Roberts himself had come to the team in a trade from the Utah Jazz (for the pick that would one day become current-day NBA head coach Billy Donovan), where he would play two seasons for the storied franchise in a reserve role.
Roberts would average 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and an assist per game while with the team.
Michael Jordan turned being cut by his high school varsity basketball team into becoming the greatest, most celebrated athlete in human history. Once he’d reached the apex of his sport, Jordan sometimes imagined slights in order to keep himself motivated.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith doesn’t have to make any slights up, though – as his game is being disrespected even after a strong 2022 season. Today ESPN shared their top 10 quarterbacks, as polled by NFL coaches, scouts and executives. Not only did Smith miss out on the top 10, he didn’t get an honorable mention or even a single vote.
A short time later, Smith shared the famous Jordan laughing at his Ipad GIF from The Last Dance.
While it’s ridiculous that he didn’t even get a single vote, Smith can help his case by cutting down on turnovers. He threw for over 4,000 yards and 30 touchdown passes, but Smith also ended the season with 11 picks and eight fumbles – several of which came in the red zone in crunch time. We think that some analysts are letting those examples color their commentary on his game a bit too much – but it’s not difficult to see why most of them are not as high on Smith as the average Seahawks fan.
For what it’s worth, we did our best to balance it all and in the end we had Smith ranked No. 10 in the league at his position.
While Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls prevented Gary Payton from winning a title in 1996, Shaquille O’Neal helped him move past it.
In the 1990s, there was no other team like the Chicago Bulls. With Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen at the helm, the Bulls dominated every team that stood in their way, winning six titles in eight years and preventing some of the game’s greatest talents from winning a championship ring. Guys like Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing could never get the job done, largely thanks to Jordan.
Another player who wasn’t able to win a ring in the 1990s was Gary Payton, who led his Seattle Supersonics to the 1996 NBA Finals but lost to Jordan. Luckily for him, Shaquille O’Neal was there to save the day.
During a recent edition of “The Big Podcast,” O’Neal spoke about his decision to bring Payton on board with the Miami Heat in 2006 and finally get him a ring, taking him out of the conversation of people who were stopped at the door by Jordan.
“I don’t want you on that list,” O’Neal said. “You shouldn’t be on that list. We had a tough era. You gotta go through Mike. We had to go through a lot of people. Gary, they made it one time and went up against Mike. I didn’t want him to be on that list. So I’m like, you know what, you need to come out here with me. I’m gonna get you one because I know I needed a tough point guard.”
Payton won a ring with the Heat in 2006, effectively erasing the narrative that he wasn’t able to get over the hump because of Jordan. And while that second part is still technically true, O’Neal made sure to push it into the background.
“”I think we have got a good chance of getting (an NBA team in Seattle) back in 2025-26,” said Payton.
Quite a few members of the wider Boston Celtics family have ties to the Pacific Northwest, from Bill Russell, Dennis Johnson and Bill Walton up to Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and many others.
With rumbles of expansion rippling through the league and Commissioner Adam Silver strongly hinting that adding teams to the NBA is just beyond the process of wrapping up a new media rights deal, a return of the NBA to the state of Washington seems the most logical next step to take.
One person interested in seeing a revived Seattle SuperSonics franchise is former Celtics defensive menace Gary Payton, Sr., who recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Landon Buford about such a prospect and Silver’s words to such an end. “Silver is great as a commissioner, he knows what he’s talking about,” related Payton.
“We have already done the collective bargaining agreement; now we have to deal with the TV deal, which will be next year,” he continued.
New YouTube episode of the Celtics Lab Podcast via@CLNSMedia ☘️
How the new CBA will impact Boston's offseason, Jaylen Brown's extension, and more w/ capologist@YossiGozlan
On this day in Celtics history, the Glove became a Celtic, Sully was born, and Chick Halbert left us.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise signed Hall of Fame point guard Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. as an unrestricted free agent. The Glove — as Payton was called as a reference to his fabled defensive prowess — was approaching the twilight of his career at age 36, but still had some high-level play left in the tank to offer the Celtics.
The nine-time All-Star was technically in his second stint with the team after having been dealt to the Celtics from the Los Angeles Lakers that past August in 2004 with Rick Fox and a 2006 first-round draft pick that would be used to select Rajon Rondo for Chucky Atkins, Jumaine Jones, and Chris Mihm.
Oddly enough he was greatly displeased with having been dealt to the Celtics at first and refused to report to the team, but ultimately acquiesced and was subsequently traded by Boston with Tom Gugliotta, Michael Stewart to the Atlanta Hawks for old friend Antoine Walker.
Five Boston alumni got no love whatever as rookies in the league — can you guess which ones?
As one of the cornerstone franchises of the NBA as well as its winningest in terms of titles, the Boston Celtics have had a number of NBA legends pass through the organization. Out of those iconic players, some rose to prominence in Boston, others came to the Celtics in the prime of their careers, and still others at the end of their time in the Association.
And of those legends, more than a few got precisely zero votes for rookie of the year in their respective first seasons in the league despite the greatness they would later show on the court, a fact recently documented by the folks at HoopsHype.
Let’s see which Celtics alumni got no love as rookies.
From DeFremery Park to the Garden: The Oakland roots of Boston Celtics greatness https://t.co/VoLMVpsjnt
Yahoo Sports’ Ben Rohrbach named a metric designed specifically to measure Russell’s sort of greatness.
The greatest winner of all time, Boston Celtics Hall of Fame big man Bill Russell, had such a profound impact on the sport of basketball that Yahoo Sports’ Ben Rohrbach named a metric designed specifically to measure Russell’s sort of greatness.
Updating it for the second straight year since its creation in 2021, Rohrbach recently released the 2022 version of what he has dubbed the predictably-titled “Bill Russell Scale” to help us take stock of how greats across eras are currently stacking up against one another. “Russell’s accomplishments also do not fit neatly into a statistical box,” writes Rohrbach. “He was not an all-time great scorer, and PER fails to properly capture the impact he clearly had.”
“This is why setting him as the gold standard makes so much sense,” adds the Yahoo analyst — and with that, let’s see where Celtics alumni stack up in 2022.
It’s no coincidence this team has the most retired jersey numbers with 17 banners hanging alongside them as of Oct. 2022. https://t.co/Pr3nTuee7t
We might be biased, but we’re not too crazy about the update.
While some NBA media outlets are dialed into the 2022-23 NBA season for their annual exercise to fill the late September content desert that is ranking season, our sister site HoopsHype has its eyes on a bigger prize.
Drawing on the popular all-time NBA list released adjacent to the NBA’s version put together for the league’s 75th anniversary, HoopsHype has gone a step further and updated the list again for 2022. There’s quite a bit of change (including the absence of many Boston Celtics who made the last list), and to be frank, we are not fans of an all-time list that would see so much turnover a mere 365 days later.
Take a look for yourselves at the various Celtics greats who were omitted and where those who remain are ranked now, and let us know why we are wrong if you feel so compelled.
Can you name the players — and better yet, the seasons — Boston had a player named Finals MVP? https://t.co/cSQKtitGwp
Steph Curry has been incredible so let’s talk about that more.
Welcome to Layup Lines, our daily NBA newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.
What’s good, family. It’s Sykes, once again, back again to usher you into tonight’s playoff action. But first, a word on Steph Curry.
These NBA Finals have been quite a treat so far with tons of twists and turns. It’s been a nice little tug of war. The Celtics have already stolen a game on the road behind some brilliant shooting. But the Warriors have really blitzed them in every third quarter we’ve seen so far.
Most of that has been done behind the brilliance of Stephen Curry.
Curry through two games so far is averaging 31.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while shooting a cool 46% from the floor and 46% from 3-point range. That’s all while taking 13 3-pointers per game, which is insane.
He’s on pace to be one of 3 players in league history to average 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists while having a 55% true shooting mark — the other two are LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
No matter what way you cut it, this dude’s performance so far has been incredible. He’s the straw stirring everyone’s drink on the Warriors. Yet, all anyone has talked about over the last few days has been the officiating.
All that stuff is well and good. But, honestly, the Celtics have much bigger problems on their hands. They need to figure out who can, at least, bother Steph Curry. Because right now? It doesn’t look like they have anybody.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Prince chatted it up with the Spurs legend about a number of things including playing with the two coaches currently in the NBA Finals, passing the torch to the Warriors and being the young guy at 21 years old in the Finals himself. There was lots of good in the conversation.
But the best part? It was this quote on people overlooking the Spurs’ dynasty.
“To a certain extent. But in the world of basketball, everybody knows we had an unbelievable run, maybe one of the best runs in 20 years in the NBA, if you look at playoffs and all that kind of stuff and all the success we had over the years. I understand that we talk about the Bulls, Lakers, Celtics, Warriors — it doesn’t bother me because when I go home, I have my four rings too. So, I will put them against anybody.”
Celtics (-3.5, -160) vs. Warriors (+130), O/U 212.5, 9 PM ET
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
This is such a tough one to pick. Game 3 is so pivotal — especially when homecourt has already shifted in the road team’s favor for the series.
The Celtics haven’t been the steadiest at home in the playoffs, though. They’re 5-4 and the Warriors are looking to steal one in TD Garden to get homecourt back. I think we’ll finally get a close one tonight. Give me Warriors +3.5.
Who’s in and out?
Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
— Robert Williams (knee) is questionable for Game 3 against the Warriors
— Gary Payton II (elbow) is questionable for Game 3 against the Celtics
— Otto Porter Jr. (foot) is questionable for Game 3 against the Celtics
— Andre Iguodala (knee) is questionable for Game 3 against the Celtics
Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).
‘Y’all were getting bullied,’ suggested the Warriors forward.
Folks around the NBA took notice of the pugnacious play from Golden State Warriors‘ Draymond Green in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. He confused the refs, he confounded fans in Boston, and he evidently got under the skin of some of the Boston Celtics’ players. Mission accomplished for Green,
The older guard made note of his aggressive disposition, as well. Celtics Hall of Famer Cedric Maxwell notably suggested that if Green played that same way back in the 80s, well, there would be a price to pay. Being physical and talking trash was all well and good, Maxwell suggested to fellow NBA legend Gary Payton, but it could lead to a corrective altercation of sorts.
Green was asked about Cornbread’s comments on Tuesday, and Draymond didn’t quite agree with the Celtics champion.
The Celtics champ had some sizzling takes in a post-Game 2 conversation with Gary Payton, Sr. https://t.co/1yFAwmAkhO
