Latest news with #Banner18
USA Today
05-08-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Are fans of the Boston Celtics really okay with seeing Marcus Smart as a Los Angeles Laker?
Are fans of the Boston Celtics really okay with seeing Marcus Smart as a Los Angeles Laker? There has been plenty of deserved support for the Flower Mound native in the NBA media recently. Especially given it was by no means his fault he stopped playing for the Celtics, Smart having been dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the three-team deal that landed Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis and helped secure Banner 18. But understanding how the Oklahoma State alum ended up in gold and purple will be different from seeing him play in it. Particularly if that play happens to be part of Los Angeles kicking the Celtics posteriors in what is almost certainly going to be a down year. The hosts of the CLNS Media "The Big Three NBA" podcast, A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani Lunis, took some time on a recent episode of their show to talk it over. Check it out below! If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network: Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on: Spotify: iTunes: YouTube:
USA Today
14-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The best Kristaps Porzingis plays with the Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are no longer the team of veteran big man Kristaps Porzingis, but he won a title with the legendary ball club, and banners flu forever. The Latvian center was dealt to the Atlanta Hawks as one of the Celtics moves to cut salary in order to dodge the considerable second apron status penalties of the NBA's current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) early in the 2025 offseason after a rough 2024-25 campaign with Boston marked by injury and illness. But he had plenty of amazing plays with the Celtics in the two seasons he suited up with the team after having been dealt there from the Washington Wizards in the 2023 NBA offseason. To honor the time he put in wearing green and white (and his help in finally hanging the elusive Banner 18), the man behind the eponymous "Tomasz Kordylewski (Timi)" YouTube channel put together a clip of his best plays while suting up for Boston. Check it out below!
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Boston Celtics Make Strong Jrue Holiday Statement on Monday
Boston Celtics Make Strong Jrue Holiday Statement on Monday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Boston Celtics have widely been regarded as one of the best teams in the NBA over the past several seasons. Advertisement Boston entered last season with hopes of winning their second straight title after hoisting the championship trophy one season prior. The Celtics were named champions of the NBA during the 2023-24 season, led by one of the best rosters the league has seen in years. One of the many stars that Boston had rostered was Jrue Holiday. The two-way star helped lead the Celtics to Banner 18 before being traded from the team in 2025. After the Celtics dealt Holiday in the 2025 offseason, they posted a photo of the NBA guard with the championship trophy, sharing a strong note on their title. "We don't win Banner 18 without Jrue," posted the official social media account of the Boston Celtics. Advertisement Holiday was recently traded from the Boston Celtics after two seasons with the team. Holiday was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal that sent Anfernee Simons to the Celtics. Last season with the Celtics, Holiday posted 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. In his first season with the team, Holiday averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday (4).© Stephen Lew-Imagn Images Holiday will now turn the page to the Portland Trail Blazers, an organization that's struggled to find any sort of success since trading Damian Lillard. The 2025-26 season will mark Holiday's 17th season in the NBA. Before playing for the Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics, Holiday also spent time with the Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans and Philadelphia 76ers. Advertisement Related: Celtics Make Jrue Holiday Announcement on Friday Related: LeBron James Had No Words for Luka Doncic Announcement on Saturday This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
Boston Globe
17-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Celtics lost more than just a series to the Knicks; they lost some hope for the future, too.
Advertisement Instead of raising Banner No. 19 the Celtics are faced with razing their team. Instead of confetti raining down on them to signal the end of their season it feels like the sky is falling. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens brought back everyone except Oshae Brissett from 2023-24 NBA champions. That will not be the case in 2025. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Advertisement That total all-in payroll cost would be the largest in NBA history. It already would've been a tough bill to swallow So, there is an opportunity cost to not cashing in on this opportunity to win another title. Kristaps Porziņgis (right) is due $30.7 million in the final year of his contract. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff 'We set a goal out. At the end of the day, we didn't achieve that goal,' said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. 'But it shouldn't take away from the mind-set and the effort that the players put in. … I thought they gave it everything they had throughout the season. 'Obviously, we didn't achieve that, but you can't take away from what they did. This is the price you pay for trying to go after something.' The Celtics are about to pay the price for success by having to sell off pieces to avoid being above the prohibitive second apron, set at $207.8 million for next season. With Tatum and Jaylen Brown on supermax contracts, the Celtics, who were above the second apron this season, already sport approximately $230 million in salary commitments for 2025. That's well above the base luxury tax line of $187 million. Center Kristaps Porziņgis, severely limited this postseason by a persistent and mysterious respiratory illness, and venerable guard Jrue Holiday figure to be on the chopping block. Porziņģis is due $30.7 million in the final year of his contract. Holiday will earn $32.4 million in the second year of the four-year $135 million extension he signed last spring. Advertisement Despite being annihilated by the Knicks, the true grim reaper for the Green is the NBA collective bargaining agreement, which penalizes franchises such as the Celtics who assemble All-Star-laden rosters and invest heavily in winning championships. It's a shame the league and its owners want to disband dynasties and punish the pursuit of greatness. The Parquet Postmortem examination will show the cause of premature death for this dynasty interrupted will be the NBA CBA with Tatum's injury as a contributing factor. The Boston Basketball epoch that brought Banner 18 demanded more than getting obliterated in front of the glitterati at MSG in a no-contest that was over at halftime with the Celtics trailing by 27. It was worthy of a proper send off, a Viking funeral. Instead, it got an embarrassing coda reminiscent of the famous quote from former Knick Michael Ray Richardson — 'The ship be sinking,' — the third-largest playoff margin of defeat in Celtics history. Ugh. Perhaps, this was the basketball gods expressing their ire, humbling the Celtics for worshipping the false idol of unabashed 3-pointers and for perverting the game with the intentional fouling free-throw-phobic Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. The consequences of the loss stared the Celtics players and coaches in the face as unflinchingly as a Knicks team that rallied from three double-digit, second-half deficits in the series and put six players in double figures in the clincher. It likely was the last time this group of ring-bearers would be together. 'Our group, we had a bunch of great days together. Just, we didn't win in the end,' said Brown. Advertisement The hope is that Game 6 wasn't a preview of coming attractions next season if the Celtics execute But he fouled out with 2 minutes and 50 seconds left in a disastrous third quarter, finishing with 20 points but the same number of fouls (six) as his individual numbers of rebounds and assists, as well as seven of Boston's 15 turnovers. The Tandem is the dual-powered engine of the Celtics success. But Brown projects to be a solo act for much of, if not all of, next season while Tatum recuperates. Brown expressed the end of this era is merely hitting the pause button on chasing championships, not exiting out of the picture. 'I know Boston, it looks gloomy now with JT being out and us kind of ending the year,' said Brown. 'But it's a lot to look forward to, and I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end. I'm looking forward to what's next.' But what's next isn't as promising as what just passed. It's all right to mourn, Celtics fans. You lost more than just a series Friday night. Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
USA Today
08-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
JJ Redick reflects on his first season as the Lakers' head coach
JJ Redick reflects on his first season as the Lakers' head coach Generally speaking, JJ Redick did a fine job in his first season as the Los Angeles Lakers' head coach. He was hired last June despite not having any experience at either the pro or college levels, and the fact that he was a rookie coach, along with the fact that he had co-hosted the "Mind the Game" podcast with LeBron James, led many to criticize the hiring. But he kept the team in one piece through several slumps and a revamping of its roster and style of play this season. Los Angeles finished third in the Western Conference, which was a much higher finish than expected, and while it lost in five games in the first round of the NBA playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves, its immediate future seems pretty bright. After Game 5 of the Minnesota series, Redick reflected on his season and also showed a bit of humility when he mentioned what's next for him as a coach. Via 'I've always felt like a team is a living organism,' he explained. 'And that season, you've got to feed the organism, and you hope that it's healthy. Certainly, every organism has some chronic issues, and you try to address those. Then when you come in after the season, it feels like a funeral. It feels like the death of that organism. In a moment of reflection this morning, I think that's the sad part and the disappointing part. We wanted this group to have an opportunity to play for a championship. We didn't deliver on that. 'As a player, I can remember vividly, a season ending in the playoffs. You get on the plane, flight back, it's quiet. You're writing down everything you want to be better at. That's no different as a coach. That's where my mind goes today, immediately. It's, 'How can I be better?' I'm going to take a lot of time, and thankfully, this offseason I have more time than last offseason to really self-evaluate, listen to my coaching staff, listen to players, listen to feedback from RP (Rob Pelinka) and figure out ways I can be better and ways I can help get us closer to that ultimate goal of hanging Banner 18.' Redick has brought a new emphasis on detail, organization and data to a Lakers organization that had been criticized for being behind the times when it came to analytics. While it does need a starting-caliber center and better guard and wing depth, it now has a championship-caliber core for the first time since 2021. In Redick, it also may have a championship-caliber head coach.
