Every single Boston Celtics All-Star in franchise history.
The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is set to kick off in Indianapolis, Indiana. A pair of Boston Celtics will be part of the action for the third year in a row as Jayson Tatum plays as a starter and Jaylen Brown a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Stars.
Tatum and Brown join a long list of Celtics stars who have participated in the event, now entering its 73rd year of existence, which actually got its start in the old Boston Garden. Initially created to improve the image of professional basketball after a point-shaving scandal in NCAA ball besmirched the sport in the eyes of the public, the event has taken on a life of its own as one of the league’s most anticipated events.
Let’s take a look at all the Celtics who have taken part.
New episode of the Celtics Lab Podcast on YouTube, via @CelticsCLNS ☘️🧪📺
What will Brad Stevens do with the Celtics' open roster spot?
Suddenly, there’s another contender in the East. The Knicks are built in Tom Thibodeau’s image. They’re built around stern, hard-nosed defenders with a sprinkling of scoring talent across every position. The Celtics will likely want to avoid a potential seven-game series against the Knicks, especially if it leads to multiple games in Madison Square Garden.
Joined by former Boston teammates Paul Pierce and Tony Allen, the trio make their picks.
Boston Celtics Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett knows a few things about what it takes to win a title, and took his specialized knowledge of that dynamic to the league of today to put together a list of three teams he believes have what it takes to win it all in 2024.
Of course his former team is among the trio, but which are the other clubs that have a shot at winning a title in the NBA’s 2024 Playoffs? In what he dubs his “Garnett’s Bold NBA Playoffs Predictions: Top 3 Teams to Watch” segment, The Big Ticket makes some big predictions about who might be hanging banners this coming offseason.
Joined by fellow Celtics royalty Paul Pierce and Tony Allen, the B-O-S OGs get you up to speed with their picks for the 2024 title.
Kevin Garnett isn’t impressed with the lack of competitiveness in the modern NBA.
The NBA was a different ecosystem when Kevin Garnett was patrolling the court. Players took team rivalries to heart. Friendships could be made, lost, or receive irreparable damage depending on what team you played for and where you were in the standings. Nowadays, things aren’t so clear-cut. Players are friends. They work out with each other during the off-season.
In a recent episode of the “KG Certified” podcast, Boston Celtics legends Garnett and Paul Pierce discuss the differences between modern-day NBA players and players from previous eras, specifically in how they approach the concept of being competitive and upholding rivalries.
Garnett, of course, was one of the most fierce competitors the NBA has ever seen. So, it makes sense that he wants to see more players operating with an edge and grit to their demeanor.
You can watch the full episode of the podcast by clicking on the embedded video above.
Now that every team in the NBA is well past the halfway point of the season, we can say a few things about how the best players in the Association are doing in their respective races for season-long hardware. Which players have put their stamp on the league’s 2023-24 season? Where do the Boston Celtics figure in such pursuits?
Who deserves to take home Most Improved Player? Sixth Man of the Year? Coach and Executive of the Year? And who is in the race (and more importantly, at the front of) for the 2024 Most Valuable Player Award? Is it the usual suspects or is there some new blood in the running for a change?
Two former Celtics did their best to answer some of the above on a recent episode of the Showtime Basketball “KG Certified” which saw Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce weigh in on the 2024 awards races.
Check out the clip above to hear what they had to say.
KG will next need a jersey retirement ceremony and a statue in Minnesota.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.
Simply put, the two individuals do not see eye-to-eye or get along. Despite playing for the team for more than a decade, Garnett has called Taylor a “snake” who does not know “[expletive] about basketball” and that only represents a fraction of what he has said about the businessman.
Taylor is on the way out, though, and a new ownership group will gain control. Now that Marc Lore and former MLB star Alex Rodriguez are about to take over, Garnett could eventually take a role with the team. Here is more from Brian Windhorst (via ESPN):
“Garnett’s guidance is brought up often by [Karl-Anthony] Towns. And with the Wolves on the verge of finally being sold by longtime owner Glen Taylor to Marc Lore and partners including Alex Rodriguez, that influence might be drawing closer.
Assuming the transaction is finalized, there is a chance Garnett will take a role with the organization, sources told ESPN. He has been in a bitter dispute with Taylor and distant from the franchise in recent years.”
His role is unclear but in May 2021, Pioneer Press journalist Charley Walters reported that Garnett would likely be “heavily involved” in the Timberwolves basketball department once Rodriguez and Lore eventually took control.
The following year, Walters (the same reporter) added that Rodriguez and Lore also wanted Garnett to join their ownership group with a significant investment. The expectation was that an overdue Garnett statue and jersey retirement would follow.
While these are just rumors for now and may not happen, as a sports fan, it is also very cool that Rodriguez may bridge the gap between Garnett and his longtime franchise.
In so many ways, the two former players mirrored each other during their professional careers. Both were very hyped prospects and top picks in their respective drafts then had similar longevities and long-term success playing their sports, reaching their highest moments at similar points in their careers.
Garnett played in the NBA between 1995 and 2016 while Rodriguez played in the MLB between 1994 and 2016. KG was a 15-time All-Star and won his only championship in 2008. A-Rod was a 14-time All-Star who won his only championship in 2009.
Although it was the only time he received the honor, Garnett was the NBA’s MVP in 2004. Rodriguez won the award in the American League for the first time in 2003 (then won it again in 2005 and 2007).
These are also two of the greatest players of their eras who lived up to their lofty hype. Garnett and Rodriguez never got to win a championship for the teams that drafted them, though. A-Rod has said that in retrospect, he feels that he may have left the Mariners “too early” (via Seattle Times):
“I always think about that – boy, if I stayed one more year, with Ichiro, maybe we could take on Goliath and actually get over the top,” he said. “But that never came.”
Even though leaving the team was the right call for him, if he comes back to the franchise, perhaps his presence can help keep the talented roster together moving forward.
Nowadays, the Timberwolves have two former No. 1 overall picks that they drafted on their roster: Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. The team is enjoying tremendous success as the top seed in the Western Conference.
When projecting the long-term future based on payroll, for financial reasons after also owing a massive salary to Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Rudy Gobert, it will be a challenge to keep this core group together.
But for the fans who are watching this team in Minnesota, it would likely be incomparable to see the continuity of the homegrown talent win for the team that drafted them. Anything that Rodriguez and KG can do to convince them to stay would go a long way.
Especially as they are playing elite basketball, meanwhile, there is no better time than the present for KG to have a role with Minnesota. The idea of a statue and a jersey retirement ceremony should follow shortly after that, too.
The Most Singularly Strange NBA Moment
Bally Sports San Antonio
The Spurs mascot dressed up as Batman and chased a loose bat around the court during the Timberwolves game.
If that doesn’t make sense, I get it. Cory Woodroof has you covered:
“In one of the most singularly strange moments in the 2023-24 NBA season, a bat got loose in the San Antonio Spurs’ Frost Bank Center and got promptly chased by the Spurs mascot wearing a Batman costume and holding a giant net.
Don’t worry; the world around you is not glitching to reveal The Matrix. This is a thing that actually happened in San Antonio on Saturday night, and it’s apparently not the first time?”
Former Boston Celtics stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce discuss what makes a superstar in the modern NBA.
The term ‘superstar’ is overused in the NBA. That title should be reserved for the league’s top five or ten players. Fortunately, the Boston Celtics have had plenty of superstar talent throughout the years. From the great Bill Russell to Kevin Garnett and Tommy Heinsohn to Larry Bird. A superstar transcends the sport of basketball.
In a recent episode of Garnett’s “KG Certified” podcast, he and Paul Pierce discuss the different aspects that go into a player elevating themselves from being a star to becoming a genuine superstar within the NBA. Both former Celtics’ enjoyed being labeled with the ‘superstar’ title during their careers and are revered as such within the city of Boston.
The discussion is likely centered around the rise in superstar-level talent emerging in the NBA today, including Boston’s own Jayson Tatum, who continues to prove his value as a do-it-all forward operating as the best player on the best team in the league.
You can watch the full discussion by clicking on the embedded video above.
On this day in Celtics history, former Boston forward Jiri Welsch was born, and the team played its last consecutive double-overtime games.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, small forward Jiri Welsch was born in Pardubice, in what is today the Czech Republic in 1980. Welsh began his basketball career in Europe playing for BK JIP Pardubice of the Czech Republic League, CSA Sparta Prague, and Union Olimpija Ljubljana before being picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 16th overall pick of the 2002 NBA draft.
He was dealt to the Golden State Warriors on draft night for future draft assets and would play with them for one season before being dealt again, this time to the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason.
Welsch would be traded yet again soon after, this time to the Boston Celtics for Antoine Walker and Tony Delk.
The Boston Celtics legend discussed what led to a locker room fight between the entire team during the big four era.
When Doc Rivers was the head coach of the Boston Celtics, he had some exceptional talent at his disposal. The quartet of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce,Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen helped lead the team to a championship in 2008, along with an NBA Finals appearance in 2010. There’s no doubt that it was one of the best teams Boston had at their disposal in recent memory.
However, it would appear there was a legitimate competitive edge within the locker room. During a recent episode of the “KG Certified” podcast, Rivers, Garnett and Pierce discussed a locker room brawl involving the whole team following a game against the Indiana Pacers.
In the episode, the trio share the details behind what led to the brawl and who was on each side of the argument.
If you want the full scoop, you can watch the full segment by clicking on the embedded video above.
After a long time banging on the door — one time even getting their foot in — the Celtics look like the best ball club in the Association.
Is this the season the version of the Boston Celtics led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown finally break through to win it all? After a long time banging on the door — one time even getting their foot in — the Celtics look like the best ball club in the Association halfway through the league’s 2023-24 season. But it’s what comes after that will make or break hanging a banner this season.
Two players as qualified as anyone is to judge whether a version of the Celtics is truly ready to win it all are Hall of Fame alumni Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, having done that very thing in 2008.
The pair recently weighed in on what they are seeing from Boston so far this season, and whether we will finally see Banner 18 hanging in Boston this summer on a recent episode of the Showtime Basketball “KG Certified” podcast.
Check out the clip above to hear what they had to say.
