How Did the NBA Let the Celtics Sign Lonnie Walker w/ Steve Bulpett | Celtics Beat - video Dailymotion

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Steve Bulpett is a Senior NBA Writer for Heavy Sports and Heavy.com. Steve joins the show to chat about NBA front offices asleep at the wheel, Jayson Tatum's maturation, and Lonnie Walker's potential impact.   CLNS Media is Powered by:   Prize Picks - PrizePicks.com/CLNS  Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100!   Gametime - https://gametime.co  Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.  Elevate your style game on and off the course with the PXG Spring Summer 2024 collection. Head over to https://PXG.com/GARDENREPORT and save 10% on all apparel.  Nutrafol Men! Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/MEN and enter the promo code GARDEN!   #celtics #NBA #BostonCeltics The CLNS Media Network is the leading provider for video/audio content. CLNS is a fully credentialed member of the media with access to all NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB teams & venues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  CLNS' rebuilt their YouTube community in less than 12 months, during a pandemic that attacked sports. Wondering how? Find out here (and support our channel) - https://www.tubebuddy.com/clnsmedia  Visit the Official Home of CLNS Sports Coverage -  https://clnsmedia.com  Twitter - https://twitter.com/CLNSMedia Celtics - https://twitter.com/celticsclns Patriots - https://twitter.com/patriotsclns Bruins - https://twitter.com/bruinsclns Red Sox - https://twitter.com/redsoxclns Non-Sports - https://twitter.com/northstation Facebook - http://facebook.com/clnsmedia INSTA - http://Instagram.com/clnsmedia INSTA Celtics - http://Instagram.com/celticsclns INSTA History - http://Instagram.com/nbahistoryclns

Transcript

00:00Celtics is brought to you by Price Picks and the Game Time app.

00:06Hey everybody, welcome in, it is a new edition of Celtics Beat, great to be with you, Adam

00:11Kaufman, Evan Valenti, we're always here, our special guest today, Steve Bulpette from

00:14Heavy.com.

00:15Steve, welcome, it's good to see you again, been a bit.

00:19Is Valenti throwing up gang signs over here?

00:21He's a, yeah, he's always like whatever, I don't know, I, he's, we're going to have a

00:27secret Zoom handshake or something like that, that won't be a secret because everybody will

00:31see it obviously, but we should, yeah, I mean, we haven't been in person in years, we, actually

00:36we had, there was the little stopgap for an afternoon last year, but other than that,

00:40we haven't been in person in years, so maybe, maybe we can come up with something to make

00:44the people happy.

00:45I think something that will make everyone happy, Steve, is that basketball is right

00:49around the corner, not that it ever really went away between the Celtics' very long season

00:53playing all, basically through June and onward to a championship and the parade and the celebration

00:58that followed and everything like that, and you have Summer League and obviously the Olympics,

01:03which was a lot of fun, a lot to talk about as it related to the Celtics, and I know you've

01:08written about the Olympics, otherwise known as Jason Tatum's vacation.

01:12Yes, exactly, and you wrote about that a couple of weeks back on Heavy and Jared Weiss over

01:17at The Athletic and New York Times wrote something this week, talking with Tatum about sort of

01:22his reflections of that time.

01:24I would certainly recommend people go out, read both pieces, but you know, September

01:28is basically here at this point, and we're, you know, rapidly approaching training camp

01:34and obviously preseason games, and then late October, you know, just before Halloween,

01:38boom, season's going to be underway and here we go again.

01:41So one thing that I want to start with, and we can get back to sort of the Tatum stuff

01:44and Olympics and all of that, there's been a lot of conversation on this show and elsewhere

01:49pertaining to Jalen Brown's feud with Nike and the Olympic committee, and obviously

01:58he wins the multiple MVPs in the playoffs, but isn't first team or even second team or

02:02third team, all NBA, Tatum with the benchings and just a lot, you know, not winning MVP,

02:10either conference finals or NBA finals, a lot of, boy, these guys are motivated and

02:14how are they going to respond?

02:16One thing we haven't spent a lot of time on here on this program just yet, and I think

02:20a lot of people have been so sort of preoccupied with all of those other stories that they

02:26haven't fully gotten here yet, but I think it's a good storyline going into the year

02:30and it's going to be a talking point early in the season, depending on how Boston starts,

02:34is for years it's been, are the Celtics good enough?

02:38Do they have the right makeup?

02:40How do they get over the hump?

02:41You know, all of these things.

02:43Now that they've won though, it's going to be, how does Boston handle being the hunted

02:48and being that team that everyone is trying to catch and knock off?

02:53And they've re-signed everyone and they've got this window now, if new ownership, whenever

02:56that comes down the line, doesn't sell off pieces, you know, there's, there's a real

03:00potential here for banner 19, 20, 21, who knows, you know, if Celtics fans are out there

03:05dreaming big, how do you think that this team, given some of the off season drama does respond

03:12to being the hunted in the new year?

03:17I think, I think, look, they've been a really good team for a long time and they, this year

03:28for several reasons, it was just a matter that they didn't screw it up.

03:32I mean, you go back to the, the conference finals against, against Cleveland, was that

03:4118?

03:42Yeah.

03:43Yeah.

03:44I mean, that team was, first of all, get game seven on your home floor and the Warriors

03:56were very concerned about the Celtics that year because the Celtics were able to switch

04:03things.

04:04Trust me when I tell you this here, they were really, they were rooting hard for the Cavaliers

04:10in that game seven.

04:13And so the Celtics have been good enough for a long time.

04:16And I think they've been hunted for a long time, but it was just a matter of like getting

04:21in their own way.

04:22The Cavaliers, the Warriors, part of them was surprised they were able to do what they

04:28did to the Celtics in the finals a couple of years ago.

04:31You know, they just kind of bullied them in a lot of ways.

04:33They put a lot of pressure on Tatum and got physical and things happened.

04:39So they've been in this case, this situation before.

04:43I think the fact that they've got the confidence that, Hey, we didn't screw it up.

04:48We didn't let the ball dribble through our legs.

04:51You know, they've got that and they're going to have to deal with expectation.

04:58And I think that's going to be good because they're going to be, you know, they're not

05:02going to be able to walk in and think, well, which is another game.

05:07They're going to be the team that is going to be challenged and how do they respond to

05:11a challenge?

05:12And they've got enough guys, I think that respond well to challenges.

05:16We'll see.

05:18Yeah, I agree with that.

05:19And having a group of guys that have been through a lot of things together, you know,

05:25now that with Drew and Chris Stapps coming in as new pieces, that's kind of a little

05:30different.

05:31I'll get to that in a second.

05:32But you have a lot of continuity on this team.

05:33One of the things that I've bragged about for years about this particular core is it's

05:37been pretty much the same, you know, minus a piece or two here and there.

05:42So they've been able to grow and learn together.

05:45Then you add a Drew Holiday, who I've since the playoffs have started, I probably haven't

05:50stopped talking about just because of the maturity level and how good he is on both

05:55ends.

05:56I just didn't fully understand Drew Holiday's experience until watching him this year, understanding

06:01exactly everything he does on the floor.

06:03It just feels like there's a different level of professionalism now with these guys.

06:07I mean, you hear Tatum talk about it in that piece that Adam just talked about in terms

06:12of, yeah, we already, you know, we got fit for our rings and we talked about, you know,

06:17ring night's going to be kind of different, but that second game, we need to be ready

06:20to rock because as you said, we're going to be the hunted now.

06:24And it feels like to me, Steve, one of my favorite parts about this group has been able

06:29to watch them grow from when you're standing, obviously going into this season, there is

06:35a, it feels to me like there's a different level of maturity with, with these guys.

06:40Do you concur with that?

06:41Yeah, I think, well, look, I think I wrote weeks ago that, yeah, it was a lot of weeks

06:50ago now, I guess it's been a while, uh, that the, here's the question, did Tatum and Brown,

06:58what came first?

06:59Did they start trusting your teammates or did their teammates get good?

07:03Did they get better teammates?

07:05The answer I came up with was who the, you have a seven second delay here, who the exploitive

07:12deleted cares, you know, um, but cause that's the thing.

07:16And you mentioned drew holiday and I wrote a story this year because it just, I just

07:23kept coming back to this one thing.

07:26How the hell is he played for like all these different teams?

07:29I mean, the fact that he's been built around the league to me is the clear sign, the clear

07:38bright flashing sign that the NBA needs to start drug testing its front offices.

07:45I don't get how, I mean, you get a guy like him, you say, okay, you're not going anywhere.

07:50Take all the money you want.

07:52You're not going anywhere because he's so much more than just what numbers he puts up.

07:57Um, you know, you look at when they made the initial trade last summer to get Porzingis,

08:06my questions were then, and we might've even talked about it here.

08:10Tell me how, how healthy Porzingis is going to be.

08:13And tell me how the Sox are going to do defensively and just kind of basketball soul wise without

08:20Marcus smart.

08:22And then they, they get the opportunity to make the trade for drew holiday and it's like

08:29problem solved.

08:31Um, I mean, clearly the bucks, you know, are in need of a dope slap.

08:39I mean, how do you make that move?

08:41First of all, making that move, knowing what it's going to cost you defensively when you,

08:47when you trade, you know, you're going to get a help offensively, I'm sure perhaps with

08:53Dame Lillard, uh, but it's going to cost you defense because they're going to, when you

08:57get to, if they got deeper into the playoffs, you're going to, you would just watch teams

09:01target Lillard and it wouldn't have been pretty, but to not think about, okay, we're going

09:07to, we're trading drew holiday to the Portland trailblazers who are trying to play for the

09:12future who really don't need a drew holiday right now.

09:16What are they going to do with him?

09:18To what's going to happen with him and realizing that he could, he would be a perfect person

09:23to come to the Celtics.

09:25You know, if you're in the box and you realize, if you'd have thought about it, you couldn't

09:29make that trade for Lillard with the possibility that, or with the eventuality, you know, he's

09:35going to come to Boston.

09:36Do you think there's regret on the part of the bucks making, you know, that, that series

09:43of moves?

09:44Because I, I look at it and say, you know, they kind of, they felt anyway, I don't know

09:51if this is true, but they felt they had to make that move for Lillard independent of

09:56obviously ultimately costing them holiday and he goes to Boston, wins a championship,

10:00all of that.

10:01They had to make the move for Lillard because it was one of those pieces or dominoes of

10:07we need to do whatever it is to keep you on as happy and keep him here.

10:10You know, we can't risk him wanting to leave, you know, asking for a trade or waiting out

10:15his contract and leaving or whatever it is like, you know, we need to bring in, if he's

10:19one a, we've got to bring in another team's one.

10:21We've got to bring in a one B and we'll see what it looks like.

10:24And hopefully we figure it out.

10:25And obviously it didn't look great last year under Doc and company, but it still felt like

10:30sort of a, a necessary evil for the greater good of Milwaukee and Giannis.

10:36But I don't know, am I wrong about that?

10:37You talked to more execs around the league than I do, obviously.

10:41Let's put it on the board here.

10:42Let's do the math.

10:43Okay.

10:44Before the trade, you're the, look at the Bucs and the Celtics and say, how competitive

10:49are these two teams?

10:51If you're the Bucs, what are your chances against the Celtics of these two, and particularly

10:56after the trade for Porzingis with the Celtics not having Marcus Smart, okay.

11:04And you'd be looking at a backcourt, probably you'd be moving Jalen Brown back to the two

11:11spot or two, you know, to that basic defensive position anyway.

11:17How are you basically against the Celtics then you say, okay, we're, you know, we match

11:21up pretty well here.

11:22We've been competitive with them before, and this is going to be an interesting fight.

11:26Particularly now they don't have Marcus Smart to get in our way and to, you know, take charges

11:31and all that kind of thing.

11:35Now reshuffle and say, oh, here's where the Bucs with Dame Lillard, but without Drew Holiday

11:42against the Celtics with Drew Holiday.

11:47And you can't be excited about that matchup if you're the Bucs.

11:51So I mean, just, you know, you know, I say, okay, we're going to give you a math problem.

11:57Now show your work.

11:59If you did that on the board and did the, and worked it out, it's like, whoa, no, we

12:03can't do that.

12:04And, you know, you present that to Giannis and it's like, dude, this, it's not going

12:10to work here.

12:11The Bucs, they had to, you know, they had to hope some guys were healthy and they've

12:18got guys that are, I think, sneaky good that, you know, people don't talk about a whole

12:23lot, but Lopez is like a really good player for them.

12:26You know, having that kind of a five that can stretch and he's a strong guy, he'll get

12:30boards and all that stuff.

12:32But you know, thinking you're going to bring in that kind of offense with Lillard, first

12:37of all, he's got to be able to find a way to be complimentary with Giannis, which is

12:47its own set of difficulties, guys getting comfortable with each other, et cetera.

12:53Even if they want to, and they both look like they did, there wasn't any like, no, I'm the

12:58guy.

12:59No, I'm the guy.

13:00But it was still going to be difficult.

13:03And then you look at it and say, okay, now how bad have we hurt ourselves defensively?

13:10And that puts even more pressure on your offense to, you know, I do, we got to score like every

13:16possession here, you know, it's, you kind of be like the, you know, the Colorado football

13:22team, you know, you better score every time you have the football, right?

13:25Because you're going to be giving it up.

13:29I heard that last night, just as an aside, I heard that last night from Shador and I

13:32laughed.

13:33I was like, that's not a great mentality to have that we got to score that last night.

13:37He said it.

13:38He said it at halftime.

13:39He said that he said we have to, he said to the reporter, we have to score at every possession

13:42to win this game.

13:43And I was like, Oh my God, let's throw your whole defense under the bus, but like an email

13:49quote almost, you know, throwing everybody under the bus and then run everybody over

13:52with it.

13:53I said, what did I, yeah, that was, that's well used.

13:57It shows that, um, he's got a pretty strong grasp of it.

14:02He's a man of intellect for the people that are listening and watching.

14:07We had a very brief pregame conversation about the Colorado game, uh, versus North Dakota

14:14state on a Thursday night.

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15:52I do want to get back to the Celtics because I think it's funny that, you know, you talk

15:57about that trade and not thinking two steps ahead.

16:00And I, and I clearly minute the, the bucks from the minute they traded, didn't even consider

16:06the fact that some of us would get true holiday to trade.

16:10They didn't know that Brad Stevens had been asking, apparently according to Brad, Danny

16:14age for true holiday for years.

16:16Can you corroborate that?

16:17Do you know anything else behind that?

16:19Because you have a little bit more insight to the inner workings of Danny's front office.

16:23Because Brad seemed like pretty adamant.

16:25He goes, I've been asking Danny for years, how we would get ahold of true holiday.

16:28And now we finally brought him here.

16:30Yeah.

16:31I mean, you know, I, I've been a Marcus smart guy for a long time and just in terms of appreciating

16:39what he does, he he'll throw up a bad three and people will just, you know, go crazy.

16:47But if you look at the overall body of his work, like some guys, you know, are you, even

16:52when they're doing good things, it's not going to be poetic.

16:56It's not going to look great.

16:57And that's Marcus.

16:59But if I'm coaching and you know, the biggest thing you want, especially out of your point

17:05guard is some sense of certainty and Marcus to put it mildly could be just a tad mercurial.

17:15So that had to be a little bit interesting.

17:20I'd say in terms of things that caused Brad Stevens to reach for the digitalis, Marcus

17:28would be like chief among them, like, you know, okay, you know.

17:33So yeah, I can see him wanting a true holiday very badly.

17:36Hey, he wanted Mike Conley too, for a long time.

17:39There's a few guys that they've had, they had their eyes on.

17:43And I think, yeah, Holliday is one of them, but why, I don't understand why everybody

17:48wouldn't want, you know, I can understand why Portland made the trade and moved Drew

17:55Holliday.

17:56Look, they wanted Rob Williams, who if he can stay healthy and look, these have been

18:02traumatic injuries.

18:03If he can be something, you know, so things you can get over, if he comes back healthy,

18:09that's a great trade for Portland.

18:11You've got a guy that's a game changer under a good contract.

18:15Thank you very much.

18:16But everybody else, how do you get rid, how do you let a Drew Holliday out from your grasp?

18:23How are you as basketball people not see what he does for you, for teams, for your team?

18:31Again, beyond the numbers, it's just, you know, having that kind of a presence like

18:38a, look, Al Horf is another one.

18:41He does great stuff.

18:42You go to the numbers, that's good stuff there.

18:45But having someone in your dressing room that's playing a major role in your team that isn't

18:50saying, hey, give me this, give me that, but is playing a role, I mean, that's huge.

18:58We talked about, you know, in a pregame team, we're talking about mentioning the Spurs.

19:05And all these different things, and how the good players act is huge.

19:13If Tim Duncan doesn't let Greg Popovich yell at him, then tell me where the Spurs and Greg

19:22Popovich are.

19:23Pop has said, yeah, he's back coaching Division III, right?

19:27I mean-

19:28Brady Belichick, right?

19:29I mean, that's what people have said about that for years, too.

19:33When Tim Duncan allows Popovich to yell at him and responds properly and does, if you're

19:39any other player on that team, it's like, damn, our best player can get yelled at.

19:43You know, this is, it becomes acceptable.

19:47It doesn't, it's not a thing where guys are, damn, this coach doesn't, no, you've got to

19:51go along with the program.

19:53So those kind of things, those kind of relationships, I know we're getting kind of far afield here,

19:58but there's so much to appreciate with guys beyond just what you see on the floor.

20:05It's the mentality that they bring to their game that is huge.

20:10Having a guy like Derek White, who you had to actually goad into being a little bit more

20:15selfish, dude, take the shots, you know, that's huge.

20:22And it's, it alters a team's chemical makeup.

20:29And it's, you know, without those two guys being not only their physical talents, talking

20:35about White and Holiday, beyond their physical talents, just the way they approach the game,

20:41the way they play hard, and the way they play intelligently, are their Celtics nearly as

20:48good a team as we saw this year?

20:50I don't think so.

20:52I mean, that's, you know, it's not just their numbers, it's their approach and throwing

20:57Horford for three, and even Porzingis, you know, it's when people, when they made the

21:04trade for Porzingis, everyone around Boston's like, this guy is a stiff, he's, you know,

21:09always hurt.

21:10It's like, no, you don't look at everybody in context, right?

21:15If Christophe Porzingis is like your first or second best player, that's a whole lot

21:21of eggs to put in his basket, and that basket can get dropped pretty easily.

21:26But if he's like your third or fourth or whatever, you know, in that kind of context, that's

21:31huge.

21:32Well, I think what you're talking about, too, with all of those guys that you just mentioned,

21:37they're all, you know, largely at kind of different moments, phases, stages, what have

21:43you of their careers.

21:44They do fit under a similar umbrella, right?

21:47I mean, these, you know, I'll take Porzingis out of it for a moment, but the other three

21:51in particular, Holliday, White, and Horford, they're just basketball players.

21:56Like, these guys just, they're good, solid, seemingly could fit anywhere and thrive in

22:03a role kind of guys, and the only reason I say seemingly there is because I believe that

22:07of Holliday, I believe that of White.

22:10I did believe it of Horford until we saw how horribly he was misused with Philadelphia,

22:15so I'm not entirely sure I can keep him in that category, I'd like to, but these are,

22:20you know, it's just a trio of guys that there is, to your point, an utter, almost obscene

22:27selflessness among the three to where, you know, Holliday's at a stage where he's now

22:31won multiple championships, he's won a gold medal, he's, you know, he's been a scorer.

22:35He's never been a one, per se, but he's been a scorer.

22:38He's had that I'm the guy sort of stage of his career.

22:42Now he's in the twilight years, Horford as well, not that he was ever a, like this overwhelming

22:48all-star, but for Atlanta, he was, you know, kind of a, he was the pride free agent when

22:52the Celtics got him, and at that point in time was the biggest name free agent in terms

22:58of where he was at, the stage of his career, contract, all of it, that the Celtics had

23:02ever signed.

23:03I mean, that was a big deal for anyone that is, you know, either doesn't remember or is

23:06too young to remember.

23:07I mean, that was huge when, when Al Horford joined Boston and obviously set things in

23:12motion to where, you know, he would be replaced on, on that list by Gordon Hayward and, you

23:18know, almost Kevin Durant and, and some of these other guys along the way.

23:22But I just think there's, there's a really special, unique fit among these guys here

23:29to where, you know, yeah, I mean, they could work elsewhere and they have worked elsewhere,

23:32but it just works that much better together.

23:35There, again, the selflessness, but also the fact that there, there's a level of buy-in

23:41or what have you that, you know, when, when they know, when everybody knows Tatum and

23:48Brown or our 1A, 1B on whatever the given night, it may be interchangeable and every

23:52once in a while, if somebody's out holiday, you're going to have your night white, you're

23:56going to have your night once in a blue moon, Horford, you know, Porzingis, certainly you'll,

24:01you know, people, I may have already forgotten how instrumental he was in that, that you

24:07know, game that he returned in, in the playoffs after that long layoff.

24:11And I mean, just such a tone setter, obviously in that series.

24:14So they do, they have this, this collection of guys that I think sometimes we're guilty

24:19of overlooking kind of how masterfully Brad and Zarin and Austin and so many others put

24:29this group together.

24:32Brad said all along that he was looking for guys to, that would work well with Tatum and

24:38Brown, right.

24:40To compliment them.

24:42Like I'm sure you guys do too.

24:43I look at the little stuff.

24:47You had Jalen Brown coming back this year as the highest paid player in history or whatever,

24:53you huge bag.

24:55Okay.

24:56And he's in his head, partly it's there thinking I've got to prove I deserve this, which in

25:03some ways takes you away from, you know, the team thing, but you know, Hey, look, if he's

25:10hell bent on that and he's working his butt off and he's going to be making, he's going

25:14to be a better player because he's worked hard then let him, okay.

25:19How can we compliment where his head's at?

25:23So I look at also look at that situation and tell me how much, I'm not saying it was

25:30a huge thing, but tell me how much the relationship between Jalen Brown and Chris Absporzingus,

25:38what kind of, of an effect that had on this team, you know what I mean?

25:43Like their relationship playing with each other, like, you know, trying to compliment

25:49kind of taking Jalen and like, say, look, Hey, you know, here's your buddy.

25:57This is a buddy comedy and here we go.

26:01You know, those kinds of things work and then the part that gets left out, because I fully

26:05believe that Tatum should have shared the finals MVP with Jalen Brown.

26:14I think I wrote that they should have, it should have been four, four in voting.

26:16They should have either split the last vote or given it to the Leprechaun logo at center

26:22court, whatever.

26:23They should have found a way to split that award because although his numbers weren't

26:28what people thought they should be, Jason Tatum, you know, seeing the double teams,

26:35making the pass out of it, not just the assist, which were, you know, pretty impressive, but

26:41the pass to the person who makes the assist, that was huge stuff.

26:47And he wasn't doing that before.

26:50And that was a major key to this team being as unguardable as it was in most situations.

27:00So, you know, and I know I wrote a story about this.

27:04It drove me nuts to see these former NBA players on TV saying that Jason Tatum has to assert

27:14himself.

27:15He's got to be the alpha and he's got to score 30 points and it's like, no, he doesn't.

27:20You know, how dumb are you guys?

27:22Are you just, you know, trying to give a hot take to get your paycheck?

27:26That's crazy.

27:28He has to do the right thing in each situation.

27:32And if it's seeing a double team coming, among the things that really define Tim Duncan's

27:40greatness to bring him back into the picture was not just that he made the pass out of

27:44the double team, but he made the pass that killed you out of the double team.

27:49So I mean, you saw a lot more of that from Tatum this year.

27:53This whole thing of he's got to be, that's the kind of mentality that kills basketball

28:00teams.

28:01You know, if he comes in saying, I've got to score 35, you're screwed.

28:06It's, you know, again, maybe it's just guys realizing they have to say something boldly

28:14to, you know, because that's the way the medium works, TV, those shows.

28:20And if so, hey, great, you know, keep food on the table.

28:26But it's like in a basketball sense, no way.

28:30You know, it's just, that's ridiculous.

28:33I want to stick with that for a second, just because Tatum, I did a whole podcast with

28:37Jeff and about this, about how he's been a lightning rod for pretty much just NBA discussion

28:41this whole year and how frustrating it's become for guys who are like trying to watch the

28:47game and tell everybody what's actually happening versus, you know, Tatum scoring 30 a game.

28:53And obviously the Olympics had a lot to do with that.

28:55You wrote a piece on it.

28:56You had quotes from, you know, coaches and executives about, you know, what, what's going

29:01on with team USA.

29:02And you had a great bit about how it's Steve Kerr's team, you know, they asked him to coach

29:06this team.

29:07So he's going to coach it his way, et cetera, et cetera.

29:09I want to ask this way, because you're going to have that little conversation with Jared

29:13Weiss yesterday.

29:14How do you think Jason Tatum has handled all the noise that's around him this summer between,

29:21you know, not being alpha enough and not playing versus Serbia and playing sparingly?

29:26How do you think he's handled everything?

29:27Because it seems to me like he's entering this new phase of NBA superstardom where every

29:33like would like it or not, you're going to be talked about all the time in bad ways and

29:38good ways and sideways and everything.

29:41How do you think he's handling it so far as a 26 year old?

29:44I think well enough.

29:47I think the his best response after they get their jewelry, when that kind of question

29:54gets asked, his response should be, I make sure I hold up the right finger here.

30:00You know, check out this piece of check out this little bling here.

30:04Here's my response.

30:05You know that.

30:06Look, I know I've said this a billion times.

30:11If you go back, look, there wasn't a day in Bill Russell's life that Will Chamberlain

30:17wasn't a better individual basketball talent, better basketball decathlete.

30:27But Bill Russell understood the game in a way that will never fully grasp.

30:32So on one hand, you have Will Chamberlain being a colossus who would be an uber star

30:38today.

30:39You know, enough of this crap, JJ Reddick and Gilbert Arenas and whomever else wants

30:45to talk.

30:46Yes.

30:47Yeah.

30:48I'm sorry.

30:49Yeah.

30:50Antony, my God, dude, you're great.

30:51It's like, you know, with the old line, I'd rather keep my mouth shut and have people

30:54think I'm an idiot than open it and remove all doubt that in my life.

30:59So yeah.

31:01So but so Wilt is the colossus and Bill Russell is the greatest winner in the history of team

31:07sports.

31:08There's an object to the game.

31:11So, you know, if you're Jason Tatum, you know, say all you want about me.

31:20Here's what you know, there's some ceiling laundry there that I contributed to.

31:24And we're going to try to stitch some more of it, you know, that that would be the response

31:29and like and laugh at it because it's it's especially with social media, right?

31:36This is hot take society, you know, like, you know.

31:42You can do stuff now that I can finish this here and go on Twitter X, whatever Elon wants

31:49to call it today, and and say something ridiculously stupid.

31:55Not that I don't regularly anyway, but even more so.

32:00And you know, and people are going to respond.

32:02It's just crazy.

32:03But that's the thing.

32:05It's it doesn't mean, you know, what matters is what happens in the games and how you contribute

32:11to it and how how good a teammate you are.

32:14You know, yeah, I've spoken to like high school teams and stuff, and I went back to my school

32:21when I go back and teach at Dayton.

32:23And one year I talked to the basketball team and I said, look, you know, you'll win when

32:29you play for each other.

32:31You know, when when you're overriding feeling is I don't want to let the guy next to me

32:35down and he doesn't want to let me down.

32:38You get to that situation, you work harder on the court, in practice, in the weight room,

32:44in the classroom, even you start supporting each other.

32:47And that's how teams win.

32:49And that's how this Celtics team won, because they weren't just great individually, but

32:54they were great in a complementary sense.

32:57The corner threes that drew holiday was hitting that were daggers.

33:01Right.

33:02I mean, there weren't a ton of them, but when they came, they were a pretty sure bet and

33:08they were daggers that came because the team had space properly, because it had moved the

33:13ball well enough to get the defense rotating and going side to side.

33:18And the ball had gotten to him with with enough space to have a clean shot.

33:24You know, the other example I always use, I'm talking to guys is some one guy has a

33:31ball.

33:32He drives to the basket.

33:33His teammate seals off a defender and the guy goes in for a layup.

33:38OK, the guy that scored, he gets the two points.

33:42The guy that passed to him gets the assist.

33:44But who really scored the bucket here?

33:46The guy who did the seal gets no stat at all.

33:50But when when teams, the guys on the bench, when teams celebrate that kind of stuff, that's

33:55when you win.

33:56That's what wins games.

36:03Guys, before we wrap here, though, I do want to make sure that we mention there was some

36:10news pertaining to the Boston Celtics this week, a camp invite.

36:14Anyway, we'll see if he sticks around.

36:16Lonnie Walker, who has been with the Nets, Lakers, spent a little time with Spurs when

36:21Derek White was there as well.

36:24Intriguing move.

36:25Now, obviously, we're talking about if he even makes the team an end of the bench guy

36:29who could see some minutes.

36:30I mean, he's granted for a very bad Brooklyn Nets team, 17 minutes a game, something like

36:36that, and scored about 10 points.

36:38He's an excellent three-point shooter, really strong defender, tremendous athlete, all of

36:45it.

36:46I think he's a very natural fit with this team and Joe Mazzullo's crew, if obviously

36:51he does make the club.

36:53And roster spots are a little thin, hard to come by.

36:57I mean, they've only lost a couple of guys per set.

36:59And Spie, everybody else from last year, is back, plus, obviously, Shireman.

37:04We'll see what happens with, what is it, Walton, the second rounder that you love?

37:10It's not Watson.

37:11Watson.

37:12So, yeah, this is how much I care about him.

37:13But this team, you know, is, I think Lonnie Walker could be a good fit for what, you know,

37:20one for what they're looking to do, and I'm talking regular season when I say that.

37:24And knowing that there's just going to be sort of a depth climb, if you will, in that

37:31Porzingis is going to miss half the year.

37:33I mean, he's, you know, Horford's going to be sitting back-to-backs and have minutes

37:39limited and all of that.

37:40There's just, there's going to be a trickle-down.

37:42I know I just talked about Biggs, but there's going to be a trickle-down in terms of overall

37:46minutes that exist on this team.

37:47I think somebody like Walker would come in and be a good fit.

37:51I don't know how you guys feel about him and, you know, chances of even making the

37:55team to begin with, but what you think he brings, if in fact, Steve, he is here?

37:59Well, you talk about the guys that are going to be missing time and Horford, how they're

38:04going to play with him.

38:05I think basically what we're looking at this year is this is going to be the, you know,

38:10Nemeus Cato's campaign for Springfield.

38:13This is going to be it this year.

38:15He's going to be, this is his chance to make the Hall of Fame.

38:19The Lonnie Walker signing is like one of those perfect risk reward thing, you know,

38:27great potential reward, no risk.

38:30But realize this, if Lonnie Walker were better, more interested defensively, he wouldn't be

38:41available to the Celtics for an Exhibit 10 contract.

38:44So he's got to alter his thinking there and buy in and all those fun things.

38:51But yeah, he's there, you know, as a pretty nice insurance policy.

38:58If one of the wings gets hurt, if there's some kind of injury there and he's, you know,

39:04around, he's in your, he's in the fold, he's ready to go.

39:09So, you know, I think those are, it's a no brainer move.

39:16I'm kind of surprised and I'm not sure what other options were available to him, but,

39:22you know, I'm kind of surprised that he would take an Exhibit 10 from the Celtics.

39:28Yeah, I was, I was a little surprised and it was, I was going to, I was building towards

39:33this if we ever got to, I was like, we got to the, you know, how did the, how did the

39:38rest of the league let the Celtics trade for true holiday felt kind of similar here

39:43in a way of how is there not another team around the NBA that's, that's, that needs

39:48a depth piece.

39:49I'm looking at Lonnie Walker and say, Hey, let's give this guy a shot.

39:51Cause you know, I went back after the signing, I went back and watched that fourth quarter

39:55he had against golden state a few years ago where he scored 15 in LeBron after the game

39:59was, we don't win this game.

40:00No Lonnie Walker.

40:01I love, you know, it was a fun, fun little moment to get caught up in, but it's when

40:05I see something, how, how, how is Boston coming away with Lonnie Walker?

40:08I don't, I don't really get how everybody else in a league that's, again, we talked

40:12with this coffin.

40:13We've been talking about this for years in a league that's prioritizes wing depth and,

40:18and having so many guys that you can throw out there on the wing, how Lonnie Walker sit

40:23around.

40:24I really don't understand now.

40:25Yes.

40:26I know he has his deficiencies in certain places, but I was like, I saw the, the in with the

40:31contract, I'm like, what, what is going on?

40:33I have a hot take though, Steve.

40:35I have a hard time believing he's going to play in Maine.

40:37I just don't, I don't see how he doesn't, I mean, I know there are certain contractual

40:42things that might have to work around, but he's a, for your ninth, 10th on your bench,

40:48that's an extreme luxury.

40:49Yeah.

40:50I mean, he's a, I looked at it the same way I, I B when I saw that and it's, well, you

40:55could wind up in man, it's like, I don't think so, but you know, I'm, I'm wrong occasionally

41:02by only like 10 times today and it's what a two o'clock.

41:05Yeah.

41:06So, but I, I don't see it either again.

41:10He could wind up being there, but Hey, look, there's, there's guys in May.

41:14I mean, you know, JD Davis and these guys, he, he looked, you know, better.

41:20There's just no room at the end with the varsity right now.

41:24And it's a difficult spot, you know, but, um, they were pretty well fortunate injury

41:33wise last year, the, and even to the extent that the Porzingis injury didn't, didn't hurt

41:39them badly.

41:40Cause I mean, Porzingis was an incredible compliment to that offense.

41:46My God, you know, the, the, the threes, he was able to hit the stretch and not just the

41:52threes and the, and the points you got off them directly, but that kind of floor spacing,

41:58you know, like again, it all works in, in harmony and in tandem.

42:04And you know, what does him hitting a couple of threes do for everybody else getting to

42:08the basket?

42:09You know, um, Chris Porzingis hitting a three pointer up by the, the arc there, or obviously

42:17beyond it.

42:18What does that do for Drew Holliday in the dunker spot along the baseline creeping in,

42:24you know, I mean, and then zipping out to the, to the corner, if, if someone else drives

42:31all those things work together and, um, yeah, it's, you know, um, I think Lonnie Walker

42:40will, is more likely to wind up on another roster than on mains.

42:47Well, fellas, like I said, season is approaching, you know, I, I don't, there, there are some

42:54of these shows that like, it's, it's good to have these overall big picture conversations,

42:59obviously.

43:00And, uh, you know, but, but like, there's also a, there's, there's, there's an anxiousness

43:04of like, all right, well, now we're talking about how motivated these guys are going to

43:08be and, and being the hunted and roster fits and selflessness and all these different things.

43:13It's like, let's get there already.

43:15I'm ready to get there.

43:16I'm ready to start to, you know, hear from these guys, you know, doing their media avails,

43:20giving us the whole media day.

43:22Everybody's in the best shape of their live stuff.

43:24I'm ready for it.

43:25It's where it's almost September, Steve.

43:27I mean, you gotta be, I'm, I'm sure you don't mind the, the break to whatever you're allowing

43:32yourself to take a break, but I'm sure you're eager to get back, uh, you know, over there

43:35into the locker rooms too.

43:38You know, I think I'm eager more for like getting to like middle of December when, when,

43:45when, no, I mean, when things are like have shaken out, you get to see, you know, and

43:50like, cause I mean, the biggest thing it's as just a person following sports in the last

43:57several weeks has been dissecting, watching people dissect the Patriots preseason games,

44:06you know, when they're not showing anybody anything else, no one's showing them anything.

44:12So how are we making, you know, huge judgments based on, you know, the, the playing field

44:19in a preseason game, which is nothing or very little to do with what you're going to see

44:24during the regular season, like get to games.

44:27It means something.

44:28Cause it's almost a different regular season football is a different sport than preseason

44:33football.

44:34No.

44:35I mean, the collective we has decided the Patriots offensive line is arguably the worst

44:39in history.

44:40And we've seen it for half of a quarter of one game, but they presented pretty good evidence

44:45in that.

44:46People are right, but what's going to happen when, you know, when it's not preseason and

44:54the biggest goal, your best players, their biggest goal in preseason is games is what

45:02don't get hurt.

45:03Okay.

45:05And then when it, when it gets to regular season, their biggest goal is let's hurt someone

45:09else, you know, and it's, it's a different, different gig.

45:13So again, I saw, I bring it back to basketball, which I think is why we came here.

45:21I want to get to the middle of December and see how teams are shaking out and and, and

45:28what groups look like now.

45:31I mean, how I'm hugely interested to see Philadelphia, but watching them certainly not in preseason,

45:39but even in the first few weeks of the regular season, you know, I think would be foolish

45:47to judge what they do then, because it's going to take a while to see how that shakes out,

45:53you know, Paul George and Tyrese and, and beat and all that.

45:59So, you know, give me a, not just racism, but give me a little while into it.

46:05Check Steve out on Twitter at Steve B. Hoop.

46:08You can of course, find Steve bullpets work on heavy.com.

46:11If you're looking for a direct link, it is heavy.com slash author slash Stephen bull

46:16pet.

46:17That is Stephen with a pH for anyone that is out there, not just doing a steeple pet

46:20heavy Google search.

46:21If you want the direct link, that's what it is.

46:23Steve, we always enjoy when you hop on with us, man, we'll keep an eye out for future

46:27articles, obviously.

46:28Nice to be well for Steve, for Evan Valenti, I'm Adam Kaufman rate review.

46:33Most importantly, subscribe to the podcast.

46:35Next time we talk to you folks, it's not just the footballs here and it's, you know, the

46:38fall September, September basketball's right around the corner.

How Did the NBA Let the Celtics Sign Lonnie Walker w/ Steve Bulpett | Celtics Beat

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