Tag: Romeo Langford

Celtics believe Romeo Langford has a ‘bright future’ after rookie year

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge spoke very highly of Langford following his rookie season that saw him average 2.5 points in 32 games.

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Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge on Thursday spoke very highly of guard Romeo Langford following his rookie season that saw him average 2.5 points in 32 games.

Langford showed flashes throughout the year but battled through several different injuries. He underwent season-ending wrist surgery on Sept. 22 after tearing ligaments in his right wrist during the Celtics’ regular-season finale.

The Celtics selected Langford last year with the 14th overall pick and likely knew he wouldn’t be ready to contribute at the NBA level following offseason wrist surgery until later in the season. Still, his small sample size has the Celtics and Ainge excited for his future.

He showed some really, really positive signs in the NBA games at small doses but in practice and in some G League games and we think he has a really bright future. I know that Romeo is in a good place as far as committed to getting healthy and committed to having a dynamic year next year. We’ll just see how the offseason goes, we don’t even know when our season is starting so we’ll just do the best that we can and get him back as quick as we can and strong and well-conditioned and ready to play next year as he can.

The offseason for Langford figures to be important to get completely healthy ahead of his sophomore year with the Celtics. The team has experimented with him in different roles and his availability will be crucial to helping the team find success next season.

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Celtics rookie Romeo Langford undergoes season-ending surgery

The Celtics’ first-round pick will miss the remainder of the 2019-20 season after undergoing surgery on Tuesday.

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Boston Celtics rookie Romeo Langford on Tuesday underwent successful surgery to repair a ligament in his right wrist and will miss the remainder of the 2019-20 season, the team announced.

Langford initially tore the ligaments in his wrist during the regular-season finale on Aug. 13. His status for the playoffs was originally in question but he eventually made seven appearances and last played on Sept. 17 but only logged 81 seconds after suffering a right adductor strain.

The 14th overall pick played sparingly throughout the season with the Celtics and even spent part of the year in the G League with the Maine Red Claws. His status for the start of the 2020-21 season, which is expected to begin after Christmas Day, is unclear.

Langford dealt with a number of injuries throughout the year and missed time as a result. He ultimately was never able to get into a rhythm and was out of the rotation for much of the season.

He averaged 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 32 regular-season games.

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Report: Romeo Langford out for season with successful wrist surgery

Boston Celtics wing Romeo Langford’s injury-riddled rookie season has ended with him having had successful surgery on his injured wrist, per the team.

The Boston Celtics have announced that rookie shooting guard Romeo Langford has had successful surgery to repair the scapholunate ligament in his right wrist.

Langford will miss the rest of the 2019-20 NBA season after having had the surgery, an injury he sustained at the end of the Celtics series of seeding games in the Disney bubble restart, versus the Washington Wizards on August 13th.

The Indiana product hadn’t been playing much since the first round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, but recently injured himself just seconds into his first minutes against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.

That injury — an adductor strain — may have been the deciding factor in shutting down the first-year player, whose rookie season was plagued with a host of minor injuries.

Despite the litany of dings, the Indiana native managed to put together a solid rookie season, demonstrating he is already capable of contributing as a rotation player with strong defensive skills, averaging 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

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Romeo Langford injured after 81 seconds in surprise Game 2 appearance

Celtics rookie Romeo Langford made a surprise appearance in Game 2 on Thursday but his time on the court didn’t last long.

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Boston Celtics rookie Romeo Langford made a surprise appearance in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday but his time on the court didn’t last long after he suffered an injury.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens subbed Langford into the game versus the Miami Heat with 7:29 to go in the first quarter but the 14th overall pick exited just 81 seconds later. The Celtics later announced that his return was doubtful due to a right adductor strain.

Langford did not appear in Game 1 versus Miami and has played sparingly with the Celtics thus far in the postseason. He last played in Game 5 in the second round against the Toronto Raptors, logging three and a half minutes in mop-up duty.

Langford has battled through several different injuries this season and, unfortunately, suffered yet another one. The decision to insert him into the game was a bit surprising and it would have been interesting to see how Stevens envisioned using his rookie.

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Romeo Langford hooks his fellow Celtics up with boomboxes

Boston Celtics rookie wing Romeo Langford hooked his teammates up with their own boombox ahead of their Game 2 vs. the Miami Heat.

Boston Celtics rookie wing Romeo Langford just treated his teammates to a boombox, presumably to blast some game day tunes to get the team hyped to play against the Miami Heat in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Final series with that team.

Posting on his Instagram account this Wednesday, the Indiana native thanked speaker manufacturer Bumpboxx for their help outfitting Langford’s teammates with brand new audio devices.

The first-year shooting guard hasn’t seen any action in the team’s first tilt with the Heat, but might conceivably see some floor time this series, especially if fouls limit the availability of his teammates.

He’s put up respectable numbers earlier in the postseason for a rookie who’s battled injuries throughout much of his sole season in the league, logging 1.7 points and 0.5 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per game when he has played.

The Indiana product may not see too much floor time going forward this deep in the postseason, but with gifts like this for his teammates, it shouldn’t hurt his popularity with them too much.

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Celtics’ rookies see playing time in Game 5 blowout win vs. Raptors

The Celtics’ blowout win in Game 5 on Monday ensured that some of the rookies got in on the action, too.

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For the second time of the series, the Boston Celtics cruised to a blowout win over the Toronto Raptors after posting a 111-89 victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Toronto never seriously challenged in the contest as Boston held a 62-35 advantage at halftime and led by as many as 30 points. Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 27 points, Kemba Walker added 21 points and Jayson Tatum had 18 as the Celtics now lead the Raptors 3-2 in the series.

The Celtics’ win ensured that some of the rookies even got in on the action, too.

Grant Williams, who has been a regular in the playoff rotation, logged eight minutes of work in the victory while Romeo Langford saw the floor for three and a half minutes. Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters each made their playoff debuts after playing for a few minutes in mop-up duty.

With the Celtics holding championship aspirations this season, the first-year players haven’t seen much time during the postseason, with the exception of Williams. Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has often stuck with a relatively small rotation to this point with 8-10 guys playing nightly.

After winning the first two games of the series, the Celtics once again came out on top on Monday and are just one win away from returning to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018.

Game 6 is set to tip-off Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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Romeo Langford had a hilarious bench reaction in Celtics’ Game 1 win

Celtics rookie Romeo Langford added some humor to the blowout win with a dance on the bench following a made 3-pointer.

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Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart each scored 21 points on Sunday to lead the Boston Celtics to a 112-94 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Celtics led the Raptors from start to finish and held a 24-point advantage at one point as Toronto proved to be no challenge. The Raptors shot just 36.9% from the field and 25% from 3-point range and were unable to get out and run, managing only seven fastbreak points.

In the midst of the blowout win, Celtics rookie Romeo Langford added some humor to the game. After a made 3-pointer by Semi Ojeleye, the Celtics’ bench erupted in applause while Langford threw in a little dance as the camera panned to him.

The Celtics proved to be all smiles following the win as they certainly started off their playoff series with the Raptors on a high note. The contest went their way the entire game as they look to keep that momentum going into Game 2 on Tuesday.

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Brad Stevens not feeling Game 3 pressure, happy with Langford’s play

Speaking with the media ahead of the Boston Celtics Game 3 with the Philadelphia 76ers, head coach Brad Stevens was not feeling any pressure.

Ahead of the Boston Celtics Game 3 contest with the Philadelphia 76ers, Head Coach Brad Stevens seemed relaxed about the game his team is soon to play against their Atlantic Division rivals.

But that relaxation was more to do with having the opportunity to be playing basketball at all, an easy facet of contemporary life to lose sight of when the laser-focus of playoff basketball begins.

“We have a team full of intrinsically motivated people — really the travel party, the whole travel party’s that way,” Stevens explained.

“So, we’re going to try to do the best job we can; you realize that circumstances are unique. I think the idea of pressure, when we get a chance to play a kid’s game right now with the world being what it is, everybody else can call it pressure — we’re here to play as well as we can play with great intentions, and leave it at that.”

Evidently feeling loose in the Disney bubble restart, the former Butler coach was also bullish on rookie wing Romeo Langford, who has played well in teammate Gordon Hayward’s absence after the latter went down for at least four weeks with a grade III ankle sprain.

Langford played 21 minutes in Boston’s Game 2 win despite a wrist injury of his own, which Stevens relayed responded well.

“I thought he did a good job, his wrist feels pretty good,” offered the Celtics coach. Again, it’s something that he hasn’t had a ton of pain with it. And he tapes it up and plays so he’ll have it … looked at after the season but right now I think given the go ahead to play.”

“It’s a great opportunity for him,” Stevens added.

Langford and Grant Williams were especially helpful in that Game 2 win in filling in for Hayward, both making some excellent defensive plays and few mistakes.

With the boost in scoring off the bench the Celtics have seen in recent games, it’s exactly what the team needs to compete at a high level in the postseason.

That, and better luck on the injury front than in Game 1.

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Stevens: rookie Romeo Langford practiced, said wrist ‘felt better’

Boston Celtics rookie shooting guard Romeo Langford is feeling better, and might play vs. the 76ers Monday according to head coach Brad Stevens.

It seems there’s a chance the basketball gods have finally given rookie shooting guard Romeo Langford a break this season.

With injuries marring his sole season at Indiana University all the way through his inaugural campaign with the Boston Celtics, it often times seemed as if the Indiana native couldn’t catch a break in the health department.

Midway through the second half of the last game of the 2019-20 regular season, in a meaningless game against the Washington Wizards bench, Langford sprained his wrist, tearing tendons and looking unlikely to see floor time in the postseason with yet another injury.

Sunday afternoon, however, Boston head coach Brad Stevens relayed a potentially different outcome for the rookie.

“Romeo practiced,” said Stevens. “He said he felt better today, which is good.”

Asked if Lanford would be suited up, the Celtics coach played it close to the vest.

“I don’t know yet — we’ll talk to the training staff, and we’ll talk more about that, but [Vincent Poirier] was the only one who didn’t practice; [he had] a little bit of a groin strain … but Romeo did. He went through everything and said he felt fine.”

A few hours later, the team had indeed listed Vinny Sexpants (it is very hard to not make a joke about a groin injury given that nickname for Poirier, so we won’t) as probable — and Langford as questionable.

At least in this series, it’s more about getting the young prospect minutes to prepare him to soak up at least some of Gordon Hayward’s floor time when the Butler product leaves the bubble for a few games for the birth of his child-

But, any opportunity for Langford to get such high-level play under his belt is important — and not just for the playoffs.

The litany of injuries the former Hoosier has had to work through has hampered his development as a player, and while he’s still very young, the cumulative effect on anyone’s psyche of having to take time off to heal can’t be pleasant.

Let’s hope Landford can get some burn monday evening — and let’s hope that whatever ails his wrist is the last injury he has to deal with for a very long while.

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Stevens: Langford ‘has torn ligaments in his wrist,’ might still play

Boston Celtics rookie wing Romeo Langford has torn ligaments in his wrist — but might still be able to play in the postseason.

“Romeo [Langford] has torn ligaments in his wrist.”

So came the word from Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens at Saturday afternoon’s post-practice presser

This is not the news anyone wanted to hear, but it’s the reality the often-injured rookie and his team face, yet again.

Injuries to ligaments in his thumb robbed him of much of his sole season at Indiana, causing his stock to drop out of the lottery and into Boston’s range.

Injuries — albeit less serious ones — robbed him of a fair chunk of his rookie season, and then as soon as he got healthy, a pandemic nearly robbed him of the rest of it.

Only to face this, again.

Mercifully for the first-year wing, there’s at least a chance he may be able to play through it, should he want to — though the decision ultimately rests with Langford.

“He will probably have to do something about that at some time,” offered Stevens, “but we’re still going through the process of determining next steps with him. I don’t know if that means that down the road. He’ll have to take time off if that means that it’ll have to have it … but they’re determining [if he does need time off], and we’re still in the process of determining how he feels. And whether or not he’ll be available or not.”

“Let’s say it’s questionable, right?” added the Celtics head coach.

“I feel for him. He is a hard working guy. He’s a tough guy. And I think he’s got a bright, bright future. And so, again, I hope that he’s able to play, but that’s going to be totally dependent on our doctors and dependent on his own pain. And so he’s going to have to test that and get used to it and see what it feels like. If not, then, we’ll, we’ll have him back when we have him back.”

Time after time, this promising prospect has taken two steps forward this season, only to see bad luck, his body, or both betray him, forcing a step back on his progression as a player.

Time after time, Langford has had to wait.

This time, he has really been putting things together on the defensive end, and showing he’d be able to contribute if his number was called.

And with All-Star wing Gordon Hayward headed out of the Disney ‘bubble’ for at least a handful of games to be at the birth of his next child, the Celtics might just have to find someone else to put on speed dial for when the former Butler guard takes his leave of absence.

Fingers crossed that he’s able to play if he wants to — and that Langford can put this litany of injuries behind him for good.

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