Best of 2024 Celtics Offseason w/Ice Cube, Gary Washburn & Sherrod Blakely | Cedric Maxwell Podcast
On this special edition of the Cedric Maxwell podcast, we take a look back at the best moments of the offseason. We revisit Cedric's interview with Ice Cube, Gary Washburn, and Sherrod Blakely. Plus, some of our favorite mailbag questions form the offseason, Cedric's first reaction to getting drafted by the Celtics, and much more!
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00:00Cedric Maxwell podcast is powered by Price Picks, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS media network.
00:18All right. Another episode of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.
00:21Another special guest with us. I am Joseph. He is Cedric Maxwell.
00:25We got Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe joining us once again.
00:30Offseason edition. Well, I guess it's sort of a free agency.
00:34You got the NBA draft to recap. But how you been?
00:37I mean, the last two weeks you just covered a championship team for the first time. How's everything?
00:41You got a new book. We'll get into that in a little bit. But how's everything been?
00:45Oh, it's been good. It's been good. It was cool to see, you know, them finally get over the top.
00:51We ain't got to talk about that no more. It's been literally, I've been in the city 15 years and they've been, except for one year, trying to get a championship.
01:00And to see them get over the top and finally get it done and get the monkey off their back.
01:05I mean, that was it was it was cool to see.
01:08My friend, it's not this. This is a black show. We don't use no terms like getting the monkey off your back.
01:19Get the anvil off your back. Get the anvil off your back.
01:23Like Roadrunner. You got to look that up, Joe Sweats, before your time.
01:27Yeah, that is, man. I don't know that one.
01:30But yeah, I mean, it was good. It was good for them to get over the top.
01:34The parade was awesome. Like I didn't I never been to a parade before in terms of like a team celebrating.
01:42And just to see all the types of people out that came out, they love the Celtics.
01:47You know, people think that I mean, obviously, Max, I mean, people watched your your days and they saw a number of white folks at the Boston Garden and thought those are only people.
01:57But there's so many people of color, so many from everywhere who love the Celtics, man.
02:04I mean, it's crazy. And it was just to see all them out that day on that Friday, all shapes and sizes, colors, ages from two to 92.
02:15You know, I mean, I was I was like, wow, Boston really showed the best of itself.
02:22And so it was cool. It was cool to see, you know, them finally.
02:25You know what I said? Like people think that I like the team, that they're good guys.
02:30I'm good with Joe. Me and Joe are great at this point.
02:34You know, that's serious, Max. Don't give me that look.
02:42Yeah, Max, explain that look. We can get to the scout perk thing in a minute if you want.
02:48But oh yeah, we can do that for sure. But yeah, I mean, it was awesome.
02:53It's been a cool two weeks to just kind of watch it. Now, as you see, other teams are ramping up.
03:01Meanwhile, I'm watching. I'm watching ESPN News here and they got two brothers doing cornhole.
03:08So I don't know what to say about that, Max. I wish you was on a Sunday.
03:17What happened? That's why all the French folks is getting drafted higher.
03:23Because, bro, you know, you're playing cornhole.
03:29Yeah, here's one of the crazy things we think about. And, you know, I don't know what to say.
03:36I've never seen that. I got to turn it over. I guess we've officially overcome.
03:42Well, here's the thing I'll say about what you're talking about.
03:46People, you know, that you see all kind of white folks in the audience.
03:52Well, most black people can't afford to go in and get tickets.
03:57They couldn't afford it 40 years ago.
03:59I mean, now you're talking about those tickets were, you know, to get in the building was three and four thousand dollars a seat.
04:07I heard it was like twelve hundred. Yes.
04:10Yeah, that was the highest. Three hundred section.
04:13I heard the lowest was twelve hundred. Yeah.
04:17For free people to get in color is like, you know, that's why they had to be out in the streets where it was free.
04:27And they break. They can celebrate their team and they got behind their team.
04:32It was such a beautiful day. And, you know, just the environment was just crazy good.
04:40You know what I did like about Boston, the fact that it did not seem like other cities had violence to go along with the parade.
04:48And it was really cool. I'm like you, though.
04:52I probably more than you would just wait. Wanted to see them win this series because championship, because I got tired of all these damn haters who've been around.
05:03I mean, you look at ESPN. I think nine out of twelve reporters said the parade was going to be in Dallas.
05:10And it was nine out of seventeen. But like, yeah, I mean, it's hard.
05:15But Park was like, oh, I got this. I got Dallas winning games three and four.
05:18Like, and I'm not saying, you know, everybody has a perspective. I respect Park a hell of a lot.
05:23But I just think they thought, oh, wait, wait, wait till they get to Luca and Kyrie.
05:28Oh, that. Oh, they go. I don't think the road to the finals was respected.
05:32Right. Like I think I understand. They beat Miami without Jimmy Butler.
05:37They beat Cleveland last couple of games. Donovan Mitchell, Indiana didn't have Halliburton, but they were able to win both.
05:46I mean, but this team had proven all year. It was not. It was the best.
05:52And I just think, you know, here's one of the things that happened, though.
05:55You think about those games and we set the Celtics back and made people think differently was when the Celtics lost to the Lakers in Boston with no LeBron and no A.D.
06:06Those kind of games put other things. And people just didn't say, well, you know, maybe this played a bad game.
06:13I think that was it with the Celtics is that that in the biggest narrative, which was untrue, was that everybody said all the national people, the best player on in this series right now is Luca.
06:26And we found out it wasn't. It was Tatum and Brown by a large, large mark.
06:31I'm not sure right now if Luca could keep me, you or Gary in front of him right now.
06:37We were dribbling down the court. I just don't think he could.
06:42Yeah, he was so bad. Yeah.
06:45It was some record. They were saying they said he got blown by 65 percent of the time.
06:51I mean, that doesn't that that is just crazy to think of.
06:54That means your effort is lacking or you you can't move your feet.
06:58But if you're such a great player, you should be able to at least stay in front of a guy.
07:05Brown just ran rough, rough shot.
07:08And I think the biggest narrative I've seen here lately is that what people want to pick at is that, oh, you know what?
07:15Jalen Brown shouldn't have got the MVP.
07:17He shouldn't maintain them. People just want to stir shit up with this team when I think they were just happy.
07:23Just Tatum was just genuinely happy to win the champ to be a champion.
07:29They get that shit off his back was the biggest thing that people looked at.
07:33And now they can go out and play next year.
07:36I talked to Michael Felker like you're on the show and he was trying to cause those same waves.
07:42And well, Jalen Brown or Jason Tatum didn't get the MVP of the meat left on the bone for him.
07:49And Brown didn't. I said and then he asked me, so what do you think Max is going to make the Celtics?
07:54You know, so they're not complacent.
07:56I said exactly what you said. Tatum wasn't the MVP.
08:00Brown was. Brown wasn't the all pro this year.
08:04So you had to have those things. Then there's meat left on the bone that they can go out and they can try to play.
08:10Joe Missoula has convinced people, not us, convinced people that he's a hell of a coach.
08:16And he is. He's one of the best coaches right now in the National Basketball Association.
08:21And all these other guys are going to get their money.
08:24And the biggest thing about it, when people say, well, how about Denver?
08:27Celtics are bringing back their entire core.
08:31And because of that, there's going to be continuity like Denver.
08:35People don't realize how good Jeff Green was for those guys or Bruce Brown was Denver.
08:42Celtics don't have that problem. And I'm not sure.
08:46I'm sure you'll know better than me that there are going to be some players out there who haven't won a ring.
08:51They say, shit, I want to play with the Celtics now. I want to win one.
08:55I want to go in a Blake Griffin type guy who is out there who hasn't done whatever.
09:00But look, I want to win with these guys.
09:03So I think it's easier right now for Brad Stevens, who did a fantastic job to go out and recruit and try to get somebody else.
09:12Yeah, I think the hottest team is the team that just won a championship.
09:18And so although the Celtics are limited with their financial, they can only offer minimum deals.
09:23Remember, the market is going to squeak. There is no middle class anymore, pretty much.
09:27When the market begins and all the Paul Georges and James Hardens and all these guys sign,
09:32there's going to be a bunch of brothers left out who are going to be jumping, jump, catch onto a ship and not drown and not be getting up.
09:41Some training camp invites, and they're going to take that minimum money from the Celtics,
09:46especially knowing one, if you're a big man, you can probably play because the Celtics are going to need some help in the middle.
09:53Poor Zingas being out or for being on his 30, age 38 now.
09:58We don't know about Cornette and Tillman, whether they'll be back.
10:01They can try to bring both of those guys back. But if you're coming in, you're going to get a chance to play.
10:06They got two draft picks who might be able to play. Like it's good.
10:10Like they've solidified their team to make more than one run.
10:13That's the thing. And obviously, Max, you know about one trying to repeat.
10:20It's hard as hell because I'm obviously 81. You guys came back, I'm sure, in 82 and thought, oh, it's us.
10:25And you guys lost to Philadelphia, you know, because Philly was coming after you.
10:30But just having that eye of the tiger, that desire.
10:34And I have full confidence in Missoula with his different type of methods of motivation that he's going to get those guys ready to go to come back,
10:44as opposed to like, you know, spending the summer hanging out, partying.
10:49Obviously, Jason and Drew got the Olympics.
10:52You know, I don't see Jalen being on some three month vacation and not work.
10:56Like they're going to they're going to come back hungry.
11:00And now because now you're talking about making history. Now you're talking about being one of the great eras of Celtic history.
11:05Now you're on a championship. So you're equal with 08.
11:09But now there's a chance to be better than 08. 08 couldn't win that second title.
11:14They got hurt in 09. They lost in game seven in 2010.
11:18And then age kind of kicked in. But now you've got a chance to win two and three years, three and four years back to back.
11:25You've got a chance to make some history here. Celtics haven't gone back to back.
11:30And since the 60s, you have a chance to do something special.
11:34And that's the thing, I think, like you said, Max, like they got the core back and they're going to break.
11:40And they, you know, they could probably use another old and another professional guy who's going to come in,
11:44maybe take less money and just be like, just wants to be a part of it.
11:49That's the 018. PJ Brown and San Jose, those guys is like, I'm trying to get a chip.
11:55And they see now Boston's the place to do that.
11:59Well, I'm just trying to look at this drink right here because I need to tip this up.
12:04Yeah. Dr. Peppermint. Max loves that shit, Gary.
12:08He loves it. I'm trying to I'm trying to give this to Gary.
12:12So Kumbaya about him and the coach.
12:16I mean, this is these two guys have been like, you know, what is it?
12:21And whatever. Tom and Jerry.
12:26I'll see a question being asked. And I was like, and I hear the question being asked by Gary.
12:32And I'm like, oh, shit. Here we go. Here we go.
12:36He can't give you a straight answer. I mean, so many times you've given Joe Mazzola a layup.
12:42So Joe, the team is really playing well and that that that.
12:46And Joe will look at you right now and going, well, what do you think about Jesus Christ?
12:50Yeah. That's not that far off.
12:55That is not that far off. That's our friend. We asked about him being a black coach.
13:00When I heard that question, I cringed.
13:04I was like, because here's the thing about the finals.
13:09Like all the national reporters got a chance to see Joe Mazzola live in person.
13:16What would you do?
13:20All the time. Exactly. Everybody.
13:23And I said, and I looked and I looked at the national reporter. He was in peak form.
13:27Y'all thought it was me. Now you know. Now you know what's happening.
13:33For real. Gary's looking around the room like, imagine 82 games of this.
13:38All right. Y'all see what I'm talking about now?
13:42Oh, Gary, I started. No, no, no.
13:46Gary was the only one smiling at that point.
13:49I was laughing to have that. That was a laugh.
13:52And I was like, oh, I know he ain't going to answer this.
13:56Let me let me listen and see what he says. Yeah, that was that was a layup.
14:01They'll come together and you're going, this is the time to play your black card.
14:06Oh, for real. You're going to move the line.
14:11In the next two, two, two blackhead coaches got fired, too.
14:15You know, so it was a it was a very relevant question.
14:17It wasn't like it came out of nowhere.
14:19You know, like this stuff has been talked about every every offseason.
14:22I don't know what the hell you talk about.
14:25How many of them are Christians? I was like, yep.
14:28And then everybody looked at me and I was like, I was like, see, I think it was me.
14:33I think I was crazy. Right.
14:35Y'all thought I was a hard driving reporter. Oh, Gary doesn't like to cheat.
14:39Yeah. Gary's trying to build a narrative. Yeah.
14:42I was like, I was like, Gary, Gary, do you see this dude?
14:46You see this dude? Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.
14:49Go ahead. Ask another one. Who's next?
14:52I didn't start no stuff during the finals.
14:56The question said, you know what? I'm going to defer to somebody else.
15:00Yeah, I'm going to let you go. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.
15:05Go ahead. Malika, you go ahead. Yeah.
15:07Somebody like that. Yeah. You see, it was nothing to happen between me and him in the finals.
15:11I know. I know what he's going to say. No.
15:15What did you get a chance? Did you guys do like a last embrace or something?
15:20It was the last time. Did you speak to him before the parade?
15:22When was the last time you guys got the parade? We had a great conversation.
15:26They have to pray. I called him. I texted him.
15:30Because I didn't get a chance to really after the whole everything.
15:33He had so many people around him. They were one on one interviews.
15:37I didn't get a chance to pull him aside, but I did text him the morning after and said congratulations to him.
15:43And then we had a good conversation the day after the parade.
15:47So, yeah, I said like it was I'm happy for him.
15:51Second youngest coach behind Bill Russell to win a championship.
15:55And all what he did worked. And I think he's learned a lot on the way.
15:59I think him having a great staff around him helped him trust his players, being a little bit more open minded.
16:07And, you know, you just got it. You got to think now, you know, is Joe going to be one of those guys that coaches probably 20 years?
16:14I don't know if he's I don't know what the intensity that he has, that he'll be able to do this for a long, long time.
16:20I think he's really intense, but he's only going to get better.
16:24So I respect him. I said, I have much respect for Joe Mazula. He's an unusual guy.
16:29I think everybody saw that. And I said, you didn't see me doing nothing during the finals.
16:34I was I was I was a good guy. I stayed my mom.
16:39Like Max, I said, I stayed out of grown folk business.
16:46You really don't want the big feature questions you want to ask him.
16:51And then the dude asked him about being half Italian. He didn't bite on that either.
16:56He said, OK, if we can rebound and get spacing on the floor, I don't care what you are.
17:03I'll be, you know, whatever. Like I was like, see, I think it's me.
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18:26I'm Joseph Pavone. He is Cedric Maxwell, of course, but we got a very special guest, man.
18:31We told y'all nothing but A-list guests during the offseason.
18:34We didn't miss this time, man. Ice Cube, the legendary rapper, actor, man, entrepreneur, you name it, man.
18:41I can't even go down your resume right now, but I'm very, very excited about this conversation.
18:45And thank you for taking the time. Of course, the big three in town this weekend.
18:49You got the All-Star Game, the championship. Big, big weekend coming up here in Boston.
18:55And of course, Ice Cube is going to be in the house. But how you doing, Cube?
18:58How's everything, man? How's your summer been?
19:00My summer been, it's been incredible.
19:04Thanks for having me on. You know, always been, you know, always been cool with cornbread.
19:13You know what I mean? You know, I'm a big fan.
19:18Well, you know, I must say that I admire his game.
19:22You know, far as a fan, you know, you know what time it is.
19:25You know, you know, I'm a Laker guy.
19:28But, you know, you got to admire true competitors and people who step up to the next level.
19:35You know what I mean? Especially to the championship level.
19:38So it's always been mutual respect with, you know, not just cornbread, but everybody.
19:46You know, all the Celtics, you know, it's been always mutual respect.
19:50You know, let me say it. Let me let me ask you this.
19:52Then suppose I bring ML Curry right now.
19:58It's the same. That's Max's boy right there.
20:01If he was on a championship squad, you got to salute it.
20:04You know, you can't you can't hate on that.
20:07You know, that's the pinnacle. And, you know, it's all salute.
20:12You know, when it comes to that, you know.
20:16But, you know, you don't know what time it is when it comes to ice cube.
20:19Well, you know what? You guys made me made Jason Tatum actually know me.
20:25But in 30 for 30, I was walking around and, you know, one day he came out on the floor.
20:31He was going to practice. He goes, cornbread, cornbread.
20:34I said, what's wrong with you, man?
20:36He said, I thought I saw that 30 for 30. Damn, you are a bad motherfucker back then.
20:41I said, that's how I get my props. 30 for 30.
20:44But why are you talking shit about me?
20:47Our team, the whole time hating on the Celtics.
20:49I mean, that was a brilliant thing that they put you and you got dying together.
20:54You guys were brilliant. Yeah.
20:56You know, real fans and 30 for 30 is a great way to teach the history, you know,
21:02to teach the history of what it was, you know, when we were, you know, in the 80s.
21:11And, you know, from a player perspective, from a fan perspective, you know, the passion is still there.
21:18The memories. And, you know, it's a special time in basketball that.
21:27It's hard to, you know, I can't find a match for that feeling, that time, that rivalry.
21:35So, you know, I was proud and I'm glad that Donnie did it, too, because he's a proud Celtic fan.
21:43So to have two, you know, filmmakers and fans and, you know, passionate people from our city to voice that over.
21:55That's a dream come true stuff for somebody like me, you know, because, like I said, I watched it on TV,
22:03cheering in my living room or crying in my living room, whatever the outcome was.
22:08But to now be a part of it in some kind of way is amazing.
22:14Yeah. Yeah, man. Before that, Tatum revealed that he thought he thought this dude, this 6'8 Celtics legend over here was just a radio guy.
22:23He thought that he was just, you know, had been around the team for a while.
22:27He talked in the third. He's like, wait a minute. I do one rings.
22:30That dude is the youngsters. The youngsters think I'm a movie guy.
22:35So, you know, I can understand what he's going through.
22:41That's so funny you say that, because last episode I was telling Max how growing up when I first saw New Kids on the Block, I was watching this video one day on MTV.
22:49I was like, was that Mark Wahlberg? Like, I had no idea that he had a whole group and everything.
22:56So from that generation, I can I can relate to that for sure.
23:00But I certainly know you from your from your rapping days, not NWA quite.
23:03But when he was solo, I remember that growing up for sure.
23:07So, I mean, you know, it's all good as long as they know us.
23:10That's all that matters. You know, we still here and we got a lot of history.
23:14And when they get to know us, they really know why we're still here.
23:19You know what I mean? And why are we still around? Because, you know, we've done some cool stuff.
23:26And now we're talking about the cool stuff that, you know, Max is talking about what players is doing.
23:33I'm talking about, you know, I'm, you know, displaying, you know, basketball with the big three.
23:39So, you know, we we set in the stage for the other for the youngsters to come in behind us and show us show us what they got.
23:47Well, I got to let our listeners, our viewers on on a little tip.
23:52You know, when I I saw my man on the sideline just where I had to go over and give him respect.
23:58And so, you know, I get put my headphones off. I go walk up to him and he looks at me.
24:04You know, he he's very observant. He's looking around everybody else. And he sees me and he goes, fucking cornbread.
24:14I used to make my stomach hurt. That's a salute from a Lakers fan, right?
24:19That's a salute. You know, it was, you know, they had some tough teams and it was always, you know, a nightmare to get to have to go against the Celtics, you know, without a doubt.
24:33And so, you know, I respect, you know, all the players from that era.
24:39I ran into Danny Ainge, you know, a few years ago.
24:44I had to give him his respect, you know, for, you know, just for being that ferocious player, for bringing out the best in the Lakers, too.
24:56You know, it was the highs and lows of the 80s. I think it made it a special time for both organizations.
25:03Let's get into I mean, we talked about what's going to happen here in Boston on Sunday, which for sure should be a lot of fun, man, especially for the league.
25:11You know, this is the big finale here. But let's talk about what what what was supposed to happen or what could have happened with, you know, the three on three.
25:18The winner of the Olympic winning Netherlands team who took the gold medal.
25:22And you presented a challenge for them to take on the champions of the big three.
25:27And they accepted. But, of course, FIBA got involved. And now it seems like it's not going to happen.
25:32What happened there? Take me through that. Well, you know, we we saw how the USA, you know, fared out in the Olympics.
25:43And everybody, you know, if you even, you know, four eyes, no eyes, you could see and know that we had better players that can represent the United States.
25:53And we think they in the big three, you know, these guys have been playing the style of basketball for, you know, seven, eight years.
26:03And it's like we feel like we got the best players in the world and it's not even close.
26:08And so after, you know, after the US got kicked out, we was like, yo, we want to challenge the winner.
26:17We didn't even know who the winner was going to be. And it turned out to be the Netherlands.
26:25And so we gave him a few days and then gave him a call.
26:30And they were, you know, to their credit, they was down. They think they're going to do well against, you know, big three all stars.
26:39And but they were worried about FIBA. You know, FIBA had threatened them not to let them play in the EU championships to suspend whoever played for a year.
26:54So they kind of stepped in. Then they sent us this, you know, bullshit letter where they said, you know, you only gave us 10 days to make this decision.
27:06We have to wait three weeks because of the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
27:11And so, you know, that was a little out a technicality.
27:17So today we issued another challenge. Yo, let's do it in January.
27:24Let's invite a few more of the biggest three on three teams in the world or the best.
27:30Let's have a little tournament. Let's call it the Big Cup. Let's like, you know, let's put that money back on the line.
27:39And so, you know, we don't play our championship. We don't play our all star game on Sunday.
27:46And then we'll get right back at them and see if they can. You know, what excuses would they have now?
27:53What made what made you come up with that concept? I mean, that's just I mean, we play I play play streetball all the time, play three on three.
28:02But what made you think that this was going to be viable, especially commercial?
28:06And now you've kind of crossed over into a whole nother thing where people representing you and being on TV.
28:12This is really cool. But what made you come up with that concept? Just playing, you know, being a fan.
28:19I love basketball. You know, I play a little organized basketball.
28:26I wish I could have played your ass back in the day when I was well, I wish I was.
28:32Look, that's all right, man. I'll just shoot them jumpers, man. You know, you ain't going to chase you.
28:41Yeah, right now. I know what you could do down there. I ain't about to come in that paint.
28:48But, you know, just playing, you know, a lot of three on three in my backyard, you know, you know, at my house.
28:53We had the court. So we had everybody in the backyard battling.
28:58And and it's, you know, it's just a great game. It's a mano a mano game.
29:03It's a game where you have to have all skills. You know, you can't be a specialist in three on three, you know, five on five.
29:11You can be a defensive guy. You could be a rebound guy. You could be a three point guy.
29:18But in, you know, three on three, you have to be able to pass, dribble, shoot and defend and, you know, man up, lock down your man.
29:26Help is not coming. And so I felt like this style was there all along, like the step cousin, the five on five, you know, waiting for some shine.
29:39And I'm like, you know, talking to my partner, Jeff Kwan is, you know, what?
29:44Let's elevate this to the professional level. And we spent a year, you know, just figuring out what that looks like, what that feels like,
29:54what will be accepted by first, you know, the American audience and then the world audience.
30:01And so we started to, you know, kind of carve up what the league should look like, feel like, sound like.
30:08And it's a blessing. We've been here, you know, this our seventh year, really eight.
30:15We had to shut down for COVID, but COVID, you know, it's it's been great that people love the game like I do.
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32:06What was your reaction to being drafted by the Boston Celtics?
32:09A young Cedric Maxwell coming out of UNC, UNC Charlotte. You hated it.
32:15What? Where did you want to go? Did you have like a list?
32:18Because every player does. The ones that say they don't, they got a couple.
32:22The teams that were right behind the Celtics, the team that didn't want to pick me.
32:27And I was picked with that. I was a lottery pick. I was number 12.
32:31The teams that didn't pick me were Milwaukee.
32:36Milwaukee talked a lot of noise about me because they visited and said I was a flake.
32:41And I was trying to get my. So that's what you were trying. So that's where you were trying to go.
32:45No, no, no. That's where that's the team that didn't pick me.
32:48No, I know. But I thought you said that the ones that didn't pick you were the ones that came up.
32:52Number 11 was Milwaukee. Number 12.
32:56The team that I wanted to pick me, actually, and I've been mad all this time saying it was number 13,
33:01but they were actually 14, was the Atlanta Hawks.
33:05Atlanta Hawks was picked two picks later. That's where I wanted to go. I wanted to stay in the South.
33:10Yeah, Max already knew. No, you already knew about Atlanta. You're like Atlanta's up and coming.
33:13They're going to be it's going to be popping in about 20. It wasn't even Atlanta.
33:17The it wasn't even Atlanta, the basketball club.
33:20It was Atlanta, the city. I mean, I just really wasn't interested in Boston.
33:25I mean, I read a lot of things about Boston racially and, you know, and I knew it was cold,
33:32but I knew Atlanta was right down the street from Charlotte.
33:36Now, I might have been in the league for maybe about three years by going to Atlanta because I would have been.
33:42I don't know. I'd been buck wild in Boston because we were so isolated and there were so few people of color,
33:51which I didn't even know. I didn't even know Roxbury existed. No, man, don't sleep on it.
33:57No, they took me. Don't let don't let that national propaganda fool you, man.
34:02Now, what we practice, what we practice up in Burlington, we practice in Burlington.
34:07I wasn't hanging out. The first place I went that I thought I would see some people of color was the Boston Conners.
34:14I was like, oh, yeah, you know, I'm a go in the Boston Park.
34:17You know, they're going to have a basketball court down there. I'm a play some hoops or something like that.
34:22I never made it to the other side of town until later on.
34:26Did I see people and say, oh, man, there are some there's some black people.
34:31The men can be with their people. That's what it that's what they took us away.
34:34Max, they took us away in the boroughs. I call it the Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, High Park, Mattapan.
34:39Never knew that existed for my first year or so in the league, in the NBA.
34:45So Atlanta was a team I wanted to go to. So when I got drafted by the Celtics.
34:51I was just upset. I just did not. I did not. And they at that time, they picked you by a ticker tape.
34:58You weren't in the green room. You were in a room where they just all of a sudden.
35:03OK, number 13 or number 11 is by Chicago or number number 11 by Milwaukee.
35:12They took any ground weight on the GM's there or they already make their pick.
35:16They got a list. They're just they were. They were. The GM's were.
35:23We're in New York and none of the players, none of the players.
35:26So they're making they're making those decisions. The those calls in a separate room, miles away, miles away.
35:33I was in I got picked out. I was in Cincinnati, Ohio.
35:39Most everybody else was all over the place.
35:41Nobody was like, OK, the commissioner comes on the podium and says the number one pick belongs to this team.
35:48Who do you take? And then now you see, you know, goes to the player.
35:52They get the player. He goes up on the mic. It's become a big, you know, a big stage now.
35:56Yeah. Everyone goes to New York. Yeah. They'll. Yeah. It's all in one one place.
36:00Back then it wasn't. All it was was. Remember back then there were nine rounds, Joe Swaye.
36:07Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. The year that I got picked.
36:12The year I got picked, which is crazy, was Caitlyn Jenner was in my draft.
36:18Got picked the same year I was drafted. What?
36:22Bruce Jenner got drafted. So they picked him hoping that he would play.
36:26But obviously, no, no. They somebody picked him with like eight or nine.
36:30So the ninth round. But it was just for publicity.
36:34The first girl at that first woman at that time in Myers got picked by a team.
36:40Annie Myers got picked by a team that year, like in 1977 by.
36:46I don't know what team it was, but there was a woman and there was Bruce Jenner or Caitlyn Jenner was picked in the draft in 1977,
36:54which is a little known fact to a lot of people.
36:58There you go. That's a great. What do you call it? Those trivia question right there?
37:02No one would guess that. I thought I had. I think this year we were in.
37:09We're in. Arizona, we're in Phoenix.
37:14And where are they? A resort outside of Phoenix.
37:18And it was away from it was maybe 20 miles outside of the city.
37:22And up came. Somebody who looked like looked like Caitlyn Jenner.
37:30And I looked and I wanted to say, hey, did you get drafted to Europe?
37:34But I didn't know. I couldn't. So I just just got I.
37:40But you knew it was a look alike, though, right? You weren't. You can't.
37:45You know, you're not going to look so hard. But I look and I'm like, should I say, hey, Caitlyn?
37:52And then she might have been it might have been one of the most awkward times ever.
37:57So I just let it go. It could have been might have been.
38:02But a wise or older said, you might as well just let that go.
38:09Let that mystery go, man. Just just tell that story and just leave it open ended like that.
38:13Yeah, that was a good call. Probably the best best thing to do that. All right.
38:18Two more here. Second to last question. Who is your favorite current Celtics player and why?
38:26I feel like people thought I feel like people just from the podcast thought that maybe Marcus might have been your favorite.
38:32So maybe you have a new favorite. I don't know. I'm just guessing. Marcus was my favorite.
38:37OK, so that's that's accurate. The way you play that. But I think it might be.
38:42I think my interaction probably with Tatum is probably a lot more.
38:47The fact that you love the fact that Jason Tatum got up on the podium and said, Senator Maxwell, I thought he was just a guy walking around.
38:56I know that he's a great that he's a radio guy, radio guy, radio guy.
39:00Six foot seven radio dude, man. Just just legend.
39:03And I'm looking at 30 30. I'm like, hey, there's a guy right there.
39:09I know that dude. I know that dude. He had the game all the time.
39:14And that was when he after he saw 30 for 30. I've told this story before.
39:19I walked out on the floor and he was going to warm up and all of a sudden he started yelling up.
39:23Cornbread, cornbread, cornbread. What's what's wrong with you?
39:30So that 30 for 30. Damn, you are a bad motherfucker back in the day.
39:35So I bet you I bet you you didn't even realize.
39:38I bet you you're so used to being called cornbread that you didn't realize that that's the first time he's ever called you that.
39:42So I think he's trying to give you like a little way.
39:44He had. So you saw the 30 for 30 with Lakers Celtics and he identified who I was by, you know, by what happened.
39:54So it was kind of cool. It was kind of cool. No, it'd be cool, man.
39:58We can somehow somehow get another Celtics Lakers finals, man.
40:02Just one more time. You know, one more time for a while. You see, you don't even want to see it.
40:06You're like, man, let them let them boys suffer. Let that team. Let them suffer. Let them suffer for a while.
40:12Let them die. Let them die where they're at. You try and see the Celtics build a lead.
40:16That's what you want to see. You want to see Celtics get 19, 20.
40:19So we don't have to even start thinking about these Laker people crawling back and forth right now.
40:27It could be a long it could be a long road, man, after post LeBron.
40:30I know Lakers fans don't want to even think about that yet, but it could be a long way.
40:34We'll see. It could be. It could be closer when LeBron leaves because it's just the Olympics right now.
40:42Guys like Jason Tatum aren't getting the chance to play because everybody is deferring to LeBron.
40:50I'm not saying anything. He's played well, but the younger players still defer to him.
40:56And what that does, especially in Laker land, it doesn't allow those other guys to grow.
41:04Like Anthony Davis should be that much better.
41:07You think about what he does a lot of times he defers LeBron.
41:11How many times have we seen in the game where a playoff game where Anthony Davis doesn't even touch the ball
41:16and LeBron is dominating the basketball and they end up losing.
41:21And then they ask Anthony Davis later on. Why didn't you get the basketball?
41:24Well, I tried. I tried to get the ball. But, you know, it's like, dude.
41:29So, you know, I think they're closer when LeBron leaves than they are with LeBron there, because LeBron has to.
41:38Right now, you look at the Olympics, the Olympics.
41:42LeBron only has they're not you didn't have to play an 82 game schedule.
41:47You know what they're playing for about two weeks or whatever it is, or maybe a month.
41:52And when you look at three weeks, how much time is Jason Tatum getting right now?
41:57How much runs he get? A little over double double digits and minutes after after that huge fiasco.
42:05Yeah, not much. Yeah.
42:07So, I mean, it just now might be sure if that was a fiasco.
42:12Yeah, no, you're right. I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have said that term.
42:15But so this was so this fan for Celtics Twitter. It was a it was a big, big problem.
42:19Danny is my guy. And I grew up with Danny and he did a hell of a job when he was here with the Celtics.
42:25Oh, of course. But Brad Stevens, man, everything he has touched has turned to frickin gold.
42:34He's batting a thousand, Max.
42:37Who would have taken Joe Mizzou, all those coaches you have over there?
42:41You take back row Joe.
42:43Yeah. Why do you take Joe Mizzou?
42:46Yeah. Damon Stoudemire over there. You got these other. Why are you taking Joe Mizzou?
42:51Did it work? Hell yeah, it worked.
42:54Go out and say, I'm getting Derek White for two first round draft picks.
43:00Did he know? And then on top of that, you got to be lucky, too.
43:04How did he know that Drew Holliday was going to be available after he traded away the best defender the Celtics have had in years?
43:10And Marcus Mark, damn lucky. He needs to be unique.
43:14If you go to a casino, take Brad with you.
43:17If you throw a dice, you let Brad blow on the dice or spit on them or whatever it is.
43:24You let Brad have the damn dice.
43:26OK, I'm going to sit there. We're rolling with Brad because he has been unbelievable.
43:31Nobody talks about that for the pieces he's put together, Joe Mizzou to come in.
43:37And this is after everybody was down there in tears.
43:42When you lost even even even people were like, oh, my God, what's going to happen?
43:48I remember in the middle of the night and then we all got that call going.
43:53Celtics are fired right now. You may. Do you know anything?
43:58I don't know shit. I don't know.
44:01What's wrong? Max called me at like eleven o'clock that night.
44:05I'm like, Max, you tell me what happened. What you mean?
44:10That was a crazy night. That was a wild night.
44:14Closer. You're closer than we are because, you know, you do the you know, the beat and you're around.
44:20Did you have any when it when it happened? Did you have any?
44:24You can be honest with us. You're our boys. Did you have and all of us?
44:28What happened? Did I what? Say that again.
44:32Did you have any idea what had happened? No.
44:37OK, no. I mean, the thing about email was that I didn't think they would have the cojones of fire, to be honest with you.
44:46Neither did he. Because, well, I mean, the dude, the dude went to the damn finals his first year.
44:53And it's Boston. It's like not his first year in Boston, his first year as a head coach.
45:00And it's just like, do I think it was right that he was feeling himself like that?
45:05No. Do I understand it? Absolutely. Absolutely.
45:09I mean, to me, it's like it's like being thrown into a team and say, you're going to be a starting quarterback.
45:14We're just going to this would be a year of growth. And next thing you know, you play in a Super Bowl as a, you know,
45:19as maybe like a late first round or late draft pick. But you're in as a rookie that next year,
45:26you're going to be feeling yourself in a way that you weren't before, because it's just like,
45:30shit, if I can do this and I didn't really know exactly what I was doing because everything was like basically reading to react.
45:37Now that I know what this looks like. Oh, my God.
45:40Well, let me let me ask you this. What was your reaction, though?
45:44Because when you got the you got the call, just like somebody had to call you said, yo, man, like, what's your honest opinion?
45:51What? What? What was your you like? Huh? What?
45:55When they said that he was fired, I'm thinking like, OK, so they must know exactly who they got to replace him.
46:00And then when it was clear that now they really did, it's like, oh,
46:06wait, they're going back to the lottery. No, I was thinking, what do you do?
46:10I don't want to be traded. Jalen is going to be traded.
46:14Al Horford's going to forget this. I should have stayed in Philly. What am I doing here?
46:19It's about to get ugly. I'm thinking like this is about to get real, real ugly.
46:23And then and then Brad had a rough season. Then he gets promoted to.
46:28What? What the hell is going on here?
46:32And I again, I give Wick and Brad and those guys a lot of credit, man.
46:36I mean, obviously a lot of things had to break their way, but there's no way all these things could have broke your way.
46:42If you did not have some kind of vision on a front end of how you thought this would play out.
46:47We can't. You can't. No, no, no. You cannot have a vision when you're blindsided.
46:53When you're blindsided, you don't have a vision. I think something happened.
46:57You're going, what? I mean, you know what? When I heard the news, I immediately called Joe Sway.
47:03I said, just wait. What the hell is going on? Do you know he may have got got fired.
47:08You're going, huh? What are you talking? I said, what do you know?
47:11He said, and I had all the reporters calling me going, Max, what's going on?
47:16Yeah, I don't know. You're asking the wrong. I don't know.
47:20But Max, the thing I was said, the vision for them, I think, was that, you know what?
47:24If we only get one thing right in all this, we're going to get our culture back.
47:28We're going to get it so that it's not an issue because this is a major blow to our culture.
47:32And if we win some games, great.
47:33But if we don't, as long as we get the culture back on track and get this thing free,
47:39culture wise, we're going to be good. Now, did they anticipate they'd win this much with Joe?
47:44Hell no. Hell no. No one. No one saw that coming.
47:48I think they were just hoping that he would do a solid job and they would stay, you know,
47:52relatively in the thick of things in the East and they'd be good.
47:55But to win a championship, get to the finals, you know, and, you know, do it in a way that's.
48:04I mean, let's be honest. Joe's all about shot, shot, shot, shot, shot.
48:09And the defense wasn't quite what it was before, but they were still winning games.
48:14And so, no, I mean, to me, the vision was that let's just get this culture back to where it was before.
48:20And if we win some games, great. And if we don't, then we don't.
48:23But again, they didn't just win some games. They won a hell of a lot of games.
48:29And you can't you there's no way you can anticipate that they would have had this kind of success on the court.
48:35The culture wise, I figure, you know, Joe Mizzou is a safe pick.
48:38Knowing his background, knowing what he values, you know, the cloth that he's cut from as a person, as a coach.
48:45He is going to make sure that the foolishness that you have with me, that wasn't going to happen.
48:50You didn't have to worry about that no more. But can he win us some games?
48:54Because that's that's the fan coming out. Is the brother going to get us some wins?
48:58And I give him a lot of credit, man. He did it his way.
49:02I mean, I mean, you think being there helps, though, right, guys, though, like being with that team.
49:06Because if he was just a coach that just came in and was like, all right, guys, I'm, you know, I'm taking over now.
49:11Like I think him being on that bench, even though he's in the second row sort of help.
49:15No, because if you're the players, you're like, OK, I don't know if it is.
49:18But if you're the second row, if you're the second row, exactly.
49:22So now you are leader. He's on he's on the second row.
49:26And he comes in that, you know, the difference, I always say, between you and the head coach with the assistant coaches,
49:33what about about a half a foot, six inches or whatever it is.
49:37But for them to go where what he did with this team at this time.
49:43And, yeah, he's a safe pick. You know, his wife sits behind the bench.
49:47I talked to him. They, you know, they break down tape together.
49:51Last thing I want to do. I was coaching my wife telling me about what happened in the play.
49:56I'd be like, you know, here. Let's get this match thing.
50:01Cook me some bacon and eggs or something. Go ahead. You've got to put the maximum.
50:06Come back. No, I don't want my wife doing that.
50:09But maybe his wife. What you listen to her basketball IQ and what you know about the game.
50:17Oh, my God. You can't have a better person beside you.
50:20But, man, that's it. That that was a stroke of brilliance.
50:25Yeah, I just didn't think that anybody could see that thing coming.
50:30The way it happened, because this is and even with this in a shroud and I just wait.
50:38Winning this year to me. I didn't really celebrate as much.
50:44I was more relieved because they were front runners and people were out of them the whole time.
50:50People said this is Buffalo. Every next team they play.
50:53Oh, this team is going to be when Dallas got in the mix.
50:56Oh, my Dallas has the best player right now. And Luca is going.
50:59And I said this is going to be for one in the beginning.
51:02Luca is going to be the best way. Luca was far from the best player.
51:06It was brown. It was Tatum. You can add different people in who play well.
51:10So I don't see Dallas making that move again unless somebody is going to show me a picture of Luca right now.
51:17He's lost about twenty five pounds and he didn't put on muscle.
51:21Now he can defend the basketball because he couldn't be that dude yet.
51:25Well, if you're trying to be that dude, you ain't winning it.
51:28I know, because after what happened in the final, then that was a huge storyline.
51:32You know, when he fouled out, yeah, he got a big win and they needed a game.
51:36Go ahead, Shannon Sharpe. You got exposed.
51:39I appreciate you leading to our next, our next thing.
51:47You like that Z?
51:50This dude hosts a podcast, right? He knows.
51:53He got exposed.
52:16You got plenty of great content coming your way.