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Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving has been fined $25,000 for using inappropriate language when responding to a fan, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred at halftime of the Celtics’ 102-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, Oct. 20 at Wells Fargo Center.
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Celtics forward Gordon Hayward has undergone bony and ligamentous stabilization surgery for the fracture dislocation of his left ankle sustained on Opening Night. The surgery was performed by Drs. Mark Slovenkai and Brian McKeon at New England Baptist Hospital, assisted by Dr. Anthony Schena, following consultations with Dr. David Porter of Methodist Sports Medicine in Indianapolis.
No timetable has been set for Hayward’s return, but he is expected to make a full recovery, the Celtics say.
Just speculating, but unfortunately we don’t expect to see Hayward again for most, if not all, of this season.
Some players really don’t want to be traded. They like where they’re at. Such was the case with former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, who on the one hand is surely now very content to be alongside LeBron James and the powerful Cleveland Cavaliers, but loved being a Celtic. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:
Danny Ainge said yesterday that he loves Isaiah Thomas, even if the Celtics president of basketball operations tamped down his feelings long enough to include the beloved player in the August trade for Kyrie Irving.
And the now-Cleveland Cavaliers guard clearly isn’t in a forgiving mood, as evidenced by his interview with Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins. Thomas said that though his eventual return to Boston with the Cavaliers will be “all love,” that affection won’t be extended to the man who traded him as part of a league-shaking package for Irving.
“I might not ever talk to Danny again. That might not happen,” Thomas told Jenkins. “I’ll talk to everybody else. But what he did, knowing everything I went through, you don’t do that, bro. That’s not right. I’m not saying eff you. But every team in this situation comes out a year or two later and says, ‘We made a mistake.’ That’s what they’ll say, too.”
The Celtics have a loaded, talented team. They’re contenders. Their present and their future looks bright. And guard Marcus Smart would like to remain a part of it. Will he receive a contract extension? Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:
The Celtics have until next Monday to sign Marcus Smart to a rookie contract extension, something the guard would dearly love.
But there’s one problem. Smart confirmed last night that he hasn’t heard from the team on the matter. Should the Celts not extend Smart, he will become a restricted free agent next summer, and undoubtedly an in-demand restricted free agent.
Some teams are indeed wrapping up their rookie contract players. Philadelphia, for instance, yesterday signed Joel Embiid — he of the 31-game career — to a maximum extension worth $148 million over five years.
Smart can’t help but notice numbers like this.
Even though he’s surrounded by talented teammates who will do the vast majority of the heavy lifting, many eyes will be on Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum this season. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting on his first taste of NBA preseason:
Jayson Tatum is happy to have his first preseason game in the rearview mirror. His performance in the 94-82 win against Charlotte was very much a rookie’s exercise — from the 0-for-4 first-half shooting to the greatly improved work as the evening went along.
“It felt good,” Tatum said after the Celtics’ workout yesterday. “I was anxious and excited and nervous at first, but as the game progressed, I felt a lot better.
“I think it was mostly butterflies my first game. I was definitely nervous and excited when I first got out there.”
The hesitation was evident as he pulled up for an open 3-pointer and gave the ball a bit of a guided push, taking his first shot on a break about a minute and a half after he entered in the opening quarter.
The Celtics are one of the most legendary franchises in sports, and there will always be some things that set them apart in the eyes of careful observers, whether it’s a look at history, experiencing the atmosphere, or something else. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting on new Celtics guard Kyrie Irving, who already sounds quite at home:
The Celtics have held this annual open practice in the Garden for season ticket-holders since the latter part of the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett era, but the experience had a kind of newness for Kyrie Irving last night.
From the crowd, to the banners and the floor — even the nets as it turned out — had a special meaning for the Celtics guard.
“The energy. The energy, man,” said Irving, before going into intricate detail with a unique description of the Garden parquet.
“It has that vintage, intimate, kind of replicated vibe for what the Garden used to look like,” he said of the original Garden. “The misfit of the squares in where they’re placed on the floor. They’re going in opposite directions — the perpendicular one if you know what I’m saying. I just appreciate all that. And then the nets as well as the whole intimacy as well. I just like the whole aura of it.
“It’s nothing like it. It’s nothing like it,” he said. “Even the energy in here, I can feel it. All these fans about to pile in. It’s about to be a great day.”
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The Boston Celtics have signed four rookies – Jonathan Holmes, L.J. Peak, Andrew White and Devin Williams – finalizing the team’s 20-player training camp roster that includes four returning players, three NBA All-Stars and 11 first-year players.
Holmes, 24, joins the Celtics after spending last season with the Canton Charge of the NBA G-League. In 30 games (20 starts), the forward averaged 12.8 points (44.0% FG, 37.2% 3-PT, 85.0% FT) and 6.5 rebounds in 28.4 minutes. The University of Texas at Austin product also competed in 10 games with FC Barcelona Lassa across the Euroleague and Spanish ACB, producing 5.9 points (52.6% FG, 45.0% 3-PT, 83.3% FT) and 3.0 rebounds in 14.4 minutes. Holmes previously donned a Celtics uniform as a member of the team’s 2015 Summer League squad. Competing in eight games (seven starts) between the Utah Jazz Summer League and Las Vegas Summer League, he tallied 10.0 points (48.1% FG, 46.4% 3-PT, 100% FT) and 5.0 rebounds in 20.2 minutes.
A three-year player at Georgetown University, Peak, 21, averaged 12.1 points (46.0% FG, 33.5% 3-PT, 76.4% FT), 3.1 rebounds 2.0 assists and 27.6 minutes in 98 collegiate games (76 starts). He averaged career highs in points (16.2 ppg), rebounds (3.8 rpg) and assists (3.5 apg) as a junior in 2016-17. Peak played in four games of the 2017 NBA Las Vegas Summer League as a member of the Houston Rockets, producing 7.3 points on 50.0% shooting (50.0% 3-PT, 100% FT) in 13.7 minutes.
White compiled 11.6 points (45.1% FG, 39.3% 3-PT, 78.6% FT), 3.7 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 22.6 minutes in 111 games (68 starts) between Kansas, Nebraska and Syracuse. The 24-year-old enjoyed a stellar year with the Orange in 2016-17, averaging a career-best 18.5 points (43.9% FG, 40.0% 3-PT, 83.7% FT) and 4.6 rebounds in route to earning Third Team All-ACC honors. In five Las Vegas Summer League games (one start) with Cleveland in 2017, White registered 7.0 points (36.4% FG, 50.0% 3-PT, 80.0% FT) and 2.4 rebounds in 12.6 minutes.
Williams, 23, spent 2016-17 competing both internationally with Melbourne of the Australian NBL, and with the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G-League. In 16 games with Melbourne, he recorded 3.2 points (46.5% FG) and 4.0 rebounds in 10.5 minutes. The three-year West Virginia product finished the year with the Swarm, where he contributed 2.9 points (71.4% FG), 3.3 rebounds and 8.3 minutes in eight games.
Listed in its entirety below, the Celtics’ Training Camp roster includes four returning players – Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart – from the team that logged the Eastern Conference’s best record and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016-17. Horford also joins newcomers Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving as the three players with NBA All-Star accolades on the current roster.
Marcus Morris (6 yrs.), Aron Baynes (5 yrs.) and Shane Larkin (3 yrs.) each boast valuable NBA experience entering the 2017-18 NBA season, while Kadeem Allen, Jabari Bird, Abdel Nader, Semi Ojeleye, Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis and Guerschon Yabusele join Holmes, Peak, White and Williams as the 11 rookies on Boston’s Training Camp roster.
Cavs guard Isaiah Thomas is still recovering from his hip injury, and the healing process will delay the start of play for his new team. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:
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While introducing their acquisitions from the summer’s blockbuster trade, the Cleveland Cavaliers were reluctant to discuss Isaiah Thomas’ health during a news conference Thursday.
“To be fair to Isaiah, we’re not going to address any specifics on his hip injury,” general manager Koby Altman said. “We’re also not going to put a timetable on it.”
Altman added: “We’re not going to rush it, at all.”
Altman intercepted a question directed to Thomas about his health and tried to steer the proceedings away from the subject, declaring, “This is not going to turn into the Isaiah Thomas hip press conference.”
While Altman was careful not to put any expectations on a return date, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue revealed that Thomas will miss the start of the season. That would mean the All-Star point guard still has at least five to six weeks of rehab ahead of him before he suits up for Cleveland. Altman said Cleveland will lean on free-agent signees Derrick Rose and Jose Calderon while Thomas is out.
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The Boston Celtics will retire Paul Pierce’s No. 34 after a mid-season game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, February 11, cementing his 15-year Celtics legacy which includes countless accolades, significant milestones, and the 2008 NBA Championship.
“We teamed up with Paul from the beginning of our ownership and grew to be champions together,” said Celtics Co-Owner and Governing Partner Wyc Grousbeck. “He’s a great person and a great Celtic.”
Ten other Celtics players donned the number 34 prior to Pierce getting drafted by the team with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 draft. Now, after witnessing Pierce’s name skyrocket up a majority of the franchise’s historic leaderboards during his time in Boston, the 17-time NBA champions are raising his number among the other Celtics legends and champions.
“I will always be grateful for the sacrifices Paul made to help the Celtics be great,” said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. “His love for the game was contagious and his talents and hard work were legendary. He was one of the greatest players of his era.”
“The moment I was drafted by the Celtics, I knew I was joining one of the most historic organizations in the NBA,” said Pierce. “For 15 years, I played at the Garden, looking up at the jerseys of some of the most iconic players in the game – Russell, Bird, and Cousy. To now be recognized alongside those names is such an honor. I have always said I would be a Celtic for life, and now it is really coming true.”
Pierce’s No. 34 will be ceremoniously lifted to the rafters of TD Garden less than 10 years after he helped raise the Celtics’ 17th championship banner up to the very same ceiling in 2008. Going head-to-head with the rival Los Angeles Lakers in his first career NBA Finals appearance, Pierce followed up a 22-point performance in a Game 1 victory with 28 more points on 9-of-16 shooting (4-4 3-PT) and eight assists in Boston’s Game 2 triumph. His 38 points in Game 5 of those Finals represented his second-highest scoring total in 26 postseason games that year.
Pierce was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player that year, making him the third Celtic to collect MVP honors in his first NBA Finals appearance (JoJo White – 1974, Cedric Maxwell – 1981). He averaged 21.8 points (43.2% FG, 39.3% 3-PT, 83.0% FT), 4.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.08 steals and 38.8 minutes in that six-game series en route to the Celtics’ first championship banner since 1986.
“Paul was a transcendent player, a great leader, and wonderful teammate; simply one of the great Celtics in every way,” said Celtics Co-Owner Steve Pagliuca. “His number in the rafters will forever remind us of the joy he brought to the game of basketball and his love for the fans and the city of Boston.”
While his role in the 2008 NBA Finals will forever be remembered as a key part of his Celtics legacy, it was a performance earlier that postseason that is widely remembered as one of his more iconic moments in green and white. Battling the Cavaliers in a decisive Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Pierce and LeBron James battled head-to-head in a back-and-forth scoring affair that saw both stars score over 40 points. The Celtics captain unloaded for a team-high 41 points (13-23 FG, 4-6 3-PT) to upend Cleveland, 97-92, and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Pierce’s 15 seasons in Boston from 1998-99 to 2012-13 trails only John Havlicek (16) for the most ever spent in a Celtics uniform. He produced 21.8 points (44.7% FG, 37.0% 3-PT, 80.6% FT), 6.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.44 steals and 36.6 minutes in his achievement-filled 1,102 career games with the franchise.
Earning his iconic nickname “The Truth” during his third NBA season in 2000-01, Pierce tops the franchise lists in three-point field goals (1,823), free throws (6,434) and steals (1,583), while also placing as the Celtics’ second all-time leading scorer with 24,021 career points. He currently ranks in the organization’s top 10 lists in games played (3rd – 1 ,102), minutes played (3rd – 40,360), field goals (3rd – 7,882), field goal attempts (2nd – 17,630), three-point field goal attempts (1st – 4,928), free throw attempts (1st – 7,979), offensive rebounds (8th – 1,008), rebounds (7th – 6,651), assists (5th – 4,305), and blocked shots (4th – 668).
Pierce’s No. 34, which was also retired collegiately at the University of Kansas on Jan. 25, 2003, will represent the 22nd retired number in Celtics franchise history. He becomes the first Celtic to have his number retired since Cedric Maxwell’s No. 31 was retired on Dec. 15, 2003.
A Christmas Day home game, an international affair against a division rival and a slate of early season matchups against Eastern Conference competitors highlight the Boston Celtics 2017-18 regular season schedule, as announced today by the NBA.
The Celtics – whose 53-29 record topped the Eastern Conference a year ago – will make 25 total National Television appearances between ABC, ESPN and TNT. The first of those scheduled broadcasts coincides with the NBA’s Opening Night on Oct. 17, when Boston matches up against the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals. Celtics forward and 2017 NBA All-Star Gordon Hayward will make his highly anticipated TD Garden debut alongside fellow All-Star teammates Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford the very next night on Oct. 18, when the Celtics host the Milwaukee Bucks to tip off their 41-game regular season home schedule.
The Celtics’ home schedule expects to be highly competitive over the first month of the regular season, as Boston plays host to four different 2016-17 playoff teams in the first 31 calendar days of the NBA season. Among those four contests looms Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the defending NBA-Champion Golden State Warriors, who make their lone regular season appearance at TD Garden on Thursday, Nov. 16. The Celtics will host the Los Angeles Lakers the week prior on Wednesday, Nov. 8, giving Lakers guard Lonzo Ball and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum – the No. 2 and No. 3 selections in this year’s NBA Draft – a chance to experience the historic rivalry for the first time.
Highlighted by the franchise’s first home game on Christmas Day, the Celtics will have a recurring presence at TD Garden throughout the holiday season. Boston welcomes the Orlando Magic on Friday, November 24, the day after Thanksgiving, before stepping into the NBA spotlight on Christmas Day for a playoff rematch against the Washington Wizards. The Celtics will also host James Harden, newly acquired All-Star Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets on Thursday, Dec. 28, before challenging the Brooklyn Nets in a New Year’s Eve showdown on Sunday, Dec. 31.
Fans will have the opportunity to watch two showcases between the Celtics and Cavaliers at TD Garden this season. LeBron James and the reigning Eastern Conference champions represent Boston’s first opponent of the new year on Wednesday, Jan. 3, and will return the week before the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 11. There will also be ample occasions early in the season to witness Celtics basketball on their home court, as Boston will play a combined 18 home games in the months of November (8) and December (10). The Celtics’ longest homestand of the season is a five-game stretch against Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Milwaukee and Dallas from Nov. 27 to Dec. 6. Russell Westbrook – the NBA’s 2016-17 Most Valuable Player – and his new All-Star counterpart Paul George will guide the Oklahoma City Thunder to Boston on Tuesday, March 20 for their only regular season appearance at TD Garden.
The Celtics’ schedule also features an opportunity to play in front of their global fan base. The NBA announced on Aug. 10 that Boston would compete against the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA London Game 2018 at The O2 on Thursday, Jan. 11, marking the Celtics’ first regular season game in London.