{"id":41417,"date":"2022-08-10T17:38:43","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T17:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-latest-on-kevin-durant-to-the-celtics-more-bill-russell-memories-and-other-thoughts\/"},"modified":"2022-08-10T17:38:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T17:38:43","slug":"the-latest-on-kevin-durant-to-the-celtics-more-bill-russell-memories-and-other-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-latest-on-kevin-durant-to-the-celtics-more-bill-russell-memories-and-other-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"The latest on Kevin Durant to the Celtics, more Bill Russell memories, and other thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Boston has been considered a potential landing spot in large part because the Celtics are better positioned than most to offer an enticing package. But there are limits.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the source, Brooklyn initially tried to pry both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown from Boston. That proposal went nowhere, of course. The source confirmed recent reports that Brooklyn later shifted its focus to a deal centered on Brown, Marcus Smart, and a massive haul of future first-round draft picks. But the Celtics were not interested.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Get Court Sense<\/span><\/p>\n

Bounce around the NBA with our Celtics-centric look at the latest happenings on and off the court.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

There is usually posturing in trade discussions, and demands tend to soften. But as of this week, when Durant reportedly reiterated his desire to be traded during a meeting with team owner Joe Tsai, the Celtics and Nets were not close to a deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25aa When Brown’s name first appeared in Durant trade rumors a couple of weeks ago, the Celtics star tweeted \u201csmh\u201d (shaking my head), an apparent sign of frustration.<\/span><\/p>\n

But a league source said Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and coach Ime Udoka communicate with Brown \u201call the time\u201d and have kept him in the loop, adding that Brown seems to understand the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25aa Of course former Celtics forward Bailey Howell remembers the two NBA titles he won with Bill Russell as his teammate and head coach. Of course he remembers the way Russell dominated the game like no one ever had before.<\/span><\/p>\n

But some of the six-time All-Star’s fondest memories of Russell were created off the court.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the Christmas parties at his house,\u201d said Howell, 85, by phone from his home in Starkville, Miss. \u201cHe had a gift for everybody who was invited, and not only teammates and staff members but other friends. He was Santa Claus. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think he ever dressed as Santa Claus, but he’d pull the packages out and read the names, and he’d laugh when they opened the gifts. He really enjoyed the cheer of the season and we always felt honored to be invited, my wife and I.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After the 1965-66 season, it became clear that second-year center Mel Counts wouldn’t have much of a career in Boston backing up Russell, so general manager Red Auerbach began touting Counts to boost his trade value.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bailey Howell (right) runs after the Celtics’ John Havlicek in October 1965. Howell, then with the Baltimore Bullets, would join the Celtics the next season.<\/span>Dan Goshtigian\/Globe Staff<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Howell played for the Baltimore Bullets at the time, and he said the Celtics were offered either him or fellow star forward Gus Johnson. The Celtics chose Howell, and he made an All-Star team in his first year before helping Boston to NBA titles in his next two.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russell had been named head coach prior to the trade, and he later told Howell he’d given Auerbach plenty of input prior on the deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBill told me, ‘I decided on you,’ \u201d Howell recalled. \u201cIt was certainly a big break for me, and one that I’m eternally grateful for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25aa I was told that after Russell died last week, his daughter, Karen, reached out to the Celtics to thank them for their role in commissioning a statue of Russell outside Boston City Hall in 2013. It was meaningful to the family that Russell received the honor while he was alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25aa When Joe Mazzulla was an assistant coach with the Maine Red Claws in 2016, he made an impression on former Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. And after Mazzulla spent a year as the head coach at Division 2 Fairmont State, Ainge tried to bring Mazzulla to Boston. <\/span><\/p>\n

But Mazzulla declined because he had already made commitments to the team’s recruits and did not want to turn his back on them. He joined the Celtics staff in 2019, and Ainge and Stevens were impressed by his work and development.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Joe Mazzulla (right) coached the Celtics during summer league in 2021.<\/span>Ethan Miller \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Even though Mazzulla was not even one of Boston’s lead bench assistants last season, Ainge, who is now CEO of the Jazz, interviewed him for Utah’s head coaching opening this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely surprising, but I think because Danny is Danny and a creative guy in how he thinks outside the box, that made it less surprising,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cNot many people think the way he does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ainge ultimately settled on a different Boston assistant, Will Hardy, but it was another indication that Mazzulla, 34, could be one of the NBA’s rising stars in coaching. Soon after Hardy departed, Udoka announced that Mazzulla would be promoted to a bench role.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve always said this is where I want to be, because being from here and working for the Celtics means a lot more to me,\u201d said Mazzulla, who is from Johnston, RI \u201cIt’s close to my heart and family. I was just fortunate Brad and Ime agreed I should move up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n