JH: With LeBron out of the East, has your mindset changed? What is your ultimate goal for next season? Giannis Antetokounmpo: The goal is still the same. Of course you have LeBron in the Western Conference. We still have great teams like Boston, Toronto, Philly, Indiana in the East. We just have to continue getting better every day as a team. We have a great team, we have a great coach, and hopefully we will have a great season and take another step forward this year.
Boston Celtics Rumors
Rajon Rondo: Control the game. Control the game. Those are the guys who win. It’s interesting, I just found out something about Kobe, what he did in the 2010 championship Game 7. How he broke the game down and figured out how to beat us. I can’t give you the insight on that, but I just found that out. Like, maybe 45 minutes ago. It kinda pissed me off a little bit. It’s part of it, but it’s craziness. It’s amazing how he thinks the game, and it’s fun to know that. MT: Wait, wait … so in Game 7, Kobe figure something out during the game that helped the Lakers beat the Celtics for a championship, or did he do it between Game 6 and Game 7? Rondo: I don’t know if it was going into the game, but it was told to me that he had to figure it out during the game. He wasn’t himself. So he had to figure out a different way to win the game.
A number of sources have stated to the Herald that actions leading to Jabari Bird’s arrest on domestic-violence charges seem very much “out of character.” But those close to the situation say the Celtics guard had begun dealing with emotional issues in the weeks prior to the Sept. 7 incident. Bird is charged with kidnapping and assault and battery on his girlfriend, with the police report alleging he choked her at least 12 times, kicked her and threw her against a wall while holding her against her will over a span of some four hours.
People around Bird have been aware that he recently had been experiencing, according to one source close to him, “panic attacks and things like that. It wasn’t a long-term thing, but everyone knew. The Celtics knew there was something going on and he was being treated.” Said another, “This wasn’t one of the domestic-violence situations you usually see where someone gets jealous for one thing and loses control. There was something deeper going on here with (Bird). This was a bad situation.”
Marcus Smart: I love you, Mom.
The Boston Celtics have 15 guaranteed contracts on the roster, the most they can carry into the season. They also have pretty good depth on the wing: Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward will start at the 2/3 spots, with Marcus Smart and Semi Ojeleye behind them. The Celtics are not really looking to add a wing. Plus, Crawford was frustrated with his role last season in Minnesota getting almost 21 minutes a night and having the ball in his hands a lot, that’s not necessarily a fit with Boston’s selfless style. But a good rumor never lets facts get in the way — like Jamal Crawford to the Celtics. The Athletic’s Jared Weiss, talking on the Celtics Beat podcast with Adam Kaufman, said there is “mutual interest” between the sides.
