Boston Celtics

Jaylen Brown appears to have had enough of Draymond Green's championship celebration tour.

Responding to a clip from Green's joint live recording of his The Draymond Green Show and JJ Redick'sThe Old Man and The Three podcast in which Green discussed guarding Brown during the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics star said Green has "lost his dam mind."

Green specifically mentioned Brown's comments during the postgame press conference following Golden State's 107-88 win in Game 2 as evidence that he was in the Celtics forward's head.

There was a brief scuffle on the court after Green fouled Brown on a three-point attempt late in the second quarter. Both men fell to the ground, with Green's legs on top of Brown. Brown shoved his legs off of him, leading to Green shoving him and both men getting in each other's face.

"I don't know what I was supposed to do there,” Brown told reporters after the game. "Somebody got their legs on the top of your head … and then he tried to pull my pants down, I don't know what that was about but that's what Draymond Green does."

Since the Warriors defeated the Celtics in the NBA Finals, Green has made himself very available to dish on any topic, whether he's talking on a podcast or making statements on social media.

Green's hubris might eventually backfire, but he's got bragging rights over the rest of the NBA by virtue of the Warriors being champions.

It's worth noting that Green is certainly capable of being humbled. His mom, Mary Babers, sent out a tweet that has since been deleted after Game 4 of the NBA Finals in which she claimed to not know where her son went.

"Please ppl stop asking me what’s wrong with Dray," Babers' tweet read (via Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post). … I DONT KNOW! Maybe this is a CLONE! Lmbo WHERE IS THE Draymond that helped get us here!! Hmmmm I have never seen this either!"

Green responded with his two best games to close out the series against the Celtics. He dropped 12 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in the Warriors' 103-90 win in Game 6.

Brown played two good games after the incident with Green. He scored 27 points in Boston's 116-100 win over the Warriors in Game 3. The All-Star was the only Celtics player who showed up in Game 6 with 34 points on 12-of-23 shooting.

Boston Celtics star Marcus Smart has a message for people who criticize him for not being a traditional point guard.

Speaking to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe on Tuesday, Smart said the Celtics' run to the 2022 NBA Finals is enough validation that he is the right point guard for this team.

"We've had star point guards, and yet this so-called non-point guard is the only one that's led them to the Finals," he said. "I think that right there says enough. I don't really need to say too much more. I think everybody sees and understands, finally, the person I really am, and what I can do given the opportunity."

Smart began his career as Boston's backup point guard or at shooting guard when Rajon Rondo, Isaiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker were on the team.

The Celtics made Smart their starting point guard for the 2020-21 season. He's taken to the expanded role well, leading the team in assists in each of the past two campaigns.

There are certainly limitations to his game, particularly on the offensive end of the court. He's not an efficient scorer, with a 38.2 percent field-goal rate in his career (41.0 percent since the start of the 2020-21 season).

Smart's 5.9 assists per game in 2021-22 were tied with Malcolm Brogdon and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for 27th in the NBA.

Despite not being a dynamic offensive player, Smart certainly makes a profound impact on defense. He tied for fourth among all point guards with 1.7 steals per game and posted the third-lowest defensive rating among all players at the position (107.1) last season, according to StatMuse.

Smart's efforts earned him Defensive Player of the Year honors. He was the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton in 1995-96.

Among that list of previous Celtics point guards, Smart wouldn't be the No. 1 choice in a fantasy draft. Irving is one of the most dynamic scorers in NBA history. Thomas was an excellent offensive player during his two-year peak in Boston.

Yet neither one of them could get the Celtics over the hump in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Smart stepped up big in several postseason games during Boston's run to the Finals, including with two 24-point games in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat.

Even though Smart isn't a perfect point guard in the traditional sense, he seems to be a great fit for this iteration of the Celtics roster.

Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins has reportedly piqued the interest of multiple teams on the trade market in recent weeks.

According to Matt Moore of The Action Network, the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings have all checked in on Collins.

Moore noted that while the Hawks were shopping both Collins and veteran forward Danilo Gallinari leading up to the 2022 NBA draft, nothing materialized due largely to a tepid market.

Collins, 24, has been a constant subject of trade rumors over the past couple of years, and the whispers grew louder following an up-and-down 2021-22 season for the Hawks.

Atlanta signed Collins to a five-year, $125 million extension after helping the team go on a Cinderella run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, but last season didn't go according to plan for Collins or the Hawks as a whole.

The Hawks barely reached the playoffs with a 43-39 record and got eliminated in the first round by the Miami Heat.

Meanwhile, Collins had his lowest scoring average since his rookie season with 16.2 points per game to go along with 7.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 three-pointers made and 1.0 block. He also shot a career-low 52.6 percent from the field.

Collins had an even tougher go in the playoffs, averaging just 9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in five games.

There was clearly a disconnect between Collins and the Hawks last season, as Shams Charania of The Athletic reported in January that Collins had grown "increasingly frustrated" with his role and "challenged the Hawks locker room on several occasions."

Chris Kirschner of The Athletic added fuel to the fire last week, reporting that a source close to Collins said he is "done in Atlanta."

While Collins has some deficiencies, particularly on the defensive end, the 6'9" forward could be a big-time addition for any number of teams.

He is just two years removed from averaging a career-high 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds in 41 games during the 2019-20 season, showing what he can do when utilized properly.

The Celtics, Bulls and Kings would likely all feature Collins prominently, although to varying degrees.

Boston reached the NBA Finals last season before falling to the Golden State Warriors, and while Collins would undoubtedly be a starter, he would probably be the third scoring option behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The Bulls were a playoff team last season, but they lack a true power forward, so Collins would be an ideal fit and perhaps the No. 2 scoring option behind DeMar DeRozan unless Zach LaVine returns in free agency.

Sacramento is in the midst of a 16-year playoff drought and could use a splashy addition like Collins to get back on track.

Collins would give the Kings one of the NBA's most exciting frontcourt duos alongside Domantas Sabonis, and few teams would be able to match up well with them.

Although the Collins-Hawks relationship hasn't been at its best recently, trading him would leave Atlanta with a huge hole on the roster and no clear No. 2 scoring option behind All-Star guard Trae Young.

The Utah Jazz are reportedly closing in on a deal to hire Boston Celtics assistant Will Hardy as their next head coach, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Charania noted that Hardy emerged as a front-runner for the position after Jazz CEO Danny Ainge led an extensive search that "included former head coaches, top assistants, G League coaches and former players."

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the sides are working on a five-year deal.

Hardy replaces Quin Snyder, who stepped down after eight seasons.

Utah is coming off a 49-33 season that ended with a first-round playoff loss to the Dallas Mavericks. It was a disappointing result for a team that started 27-10 before floundering down the stretch with a 22-23 record.

The year prior, Utah rolled to first in the Western Conference standings with a 52-20 record but fell to the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Clippers in the conference semifinals.

The pieces are in place for Utah to bounce back and make a deep playoff run. Donovan Mitchell will be just 26 years old when the season starts, and he's already made three All-Star teams. The talented ex-Louisville shooting guard averaged 25.9 points last season.

Center Rudy Gobert remains one of the best defensive players in the game. He's a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and a six-time member of the All-Defensive First Team.

The Jazz also sport good depth in the backcourt and on the wings with Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson and Bojan Bogdanovic. They helped Utah earn the No. 1 most efficient offense in the NBA last year, per Basketball Reference.

More work needs to be done to the roster, but the pieces are there for improvement.

It'll be Hardy's job to get it done, and he has the resume and background that could foreshadow great success in Salt Lake City.

He played at Williams College and graduated in 2010. He joined the San Antonio Spurs out of college and worked as a basketball operations intern (2010) and assistant video coordinator (2011). He became the Spurs' video coordinator and worked in that capacity until 2015.

He also worked as the head coach of Spurs NBA Summer League teams from 2015 to 2018 and served as an assistant under Gregg Popovich until 2021 before moving to Boston and working on Ime Udoka's staff.

It turns out the legendary beef between Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo came to blows.

Kendrick Perkins revealed the two then-Boston Celtics guards boxed each other at the behest of their teammates.

"The first incident was when Ray was pushing so hard to trade Rondo for CP3, and it got back to Rondo," Perkins said on the Old Man & The Three podcast about the 2008-09 season. "I think right there we started having a little friction, right? We made Ray and Rondo actually box it out. They had so much beef, we got to the practice facility, we brought the boxing gloves, and they actually had to box it out because we just didn't wanna have the tension no more."

Rondo and Allen were teammates from 2007 to 2012, highlighted by winning the 2008 NBA championship. However, the two guards were famously at odds for much of the latter part of Allen's tenure with the franchise.

Allen blamed Celtics general manager Danny Ainge for the falling-out between himself and Rondo in 2012 after he signed with the Miami Heat.

Perkins' side of things paints a different story, with Allen being the one orchestrating a potential trade of Rondo in exchange for Chris Paul.

Regardless, the situation got so bad between the two that they came to blows. It doesn't appear the whole boxing it out plan worked, either, as Allen had longstanding beefs with several members of the Celtics after he left for Miami.

The NBA Finals are over, and the Golden State Warriors came out victorious, but Steve Kerr hasn't stopped talking about how Boston Celtics fans treated Draymond Green throughout the championship round.

When the Warriors played the Celtics at TD Garden, the Boston crowd frequently made some profane chants toward Green. During an appearance on the Point Forward podcast, Kerr said he thought C's fans crossed the line.

Kerr said, via Taylor Wirth of NBC Sports Bay Area:

"I thought they crossed the line. I'm all for booing guys, cheering for your own team. The appropriate cheer -- if you want to go down that path -- is 'so-and-so sucks, so-and-so sucks.' ... when they were saying 'F you Draymond,' 20,000 people, I thought of Draymond's kid too.

"Like DJ, five years old, sweet kid, like the nicest kid ... this sweet and innocent little guy, and he's gotta sit there and watch as his dad gets cussed out by 20,000 drunk fans. People don't think of it in those terms when you're watching from the outside. I do think it rattled Draymond a little bit because that's pretty extreme."

Klay Thompson also addressed the Boston crowd's chants during the series, saying it was wrong for fans to be shouting profanities at players with children in attendance.

"We've played in front of rude people before," Thompson told reporters after Game 3. "Dropping f-bombs with children in the crowd. Real classy. Good job, Boston."

In addition, Green's wife, Hazel Renee, called out Celtics fans on Instagram, saying it was "disgusting" and "shameful" for fans to be yelling obscenities at players.

The Boston crowd began chanting things like "F--k you, Draymond" and "Draymond sucks" when the series began to get a little more physical.

The Celtics were undoubtedly the more physical team in Game 1 of the Finals, and that helped them steal a win in Golden State. However, the Warriors fought back in Game 2 with much more physicality to tie the series 1-1.

During Game 2, Green immediately got tangled up with Al Horford on the opening possession and forced a jump ball. He received a technical foul later in the game after baiting Grant Williams into a foul and nearly received a second technical for an altercation with Jaylen Brown.

Heading into Game 3, Green said that he "wouldn't be able to live with" the Warriors not matching the Celtics' physicality throughout the remainder of the Finals.

Games 3 through 6 were pretty physical, but the Warriors got the best of the Celtics to capture their fourth title in eight years. What likely made it even more satisfying for Green was that the Dubs accomplished the feat in front of the Boston crowd that had been heckling him all series.

That said, the heckling might have affected Green's performance, as he averaged just 6.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. However, he got the last laugh, which is really all he probably cares about.

Fresh off their appearance in the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics aren't going to take their foot off the gas pedal this offseason as they look to clear the final hurdle and win a championship.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told reporters that ownership has given the front office the green light to do what they need to in order to improve the roster.

There are certainly some areas where the Celtics could look to improve after their six-game series loss to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

Their offense was erratic against the Warriors, including three straight games with fewer than 100 points (Games 4-6).

Prior to Game 6, Jared Dubin of FiveThirtyEight.com noted Boston's offensive efficiency in the first five games of the series ranged from 89.7 (Game 2) to 125.4 (Game 3).

Turnovers were often an easy tell to see if the Celtics were going to win or lose throughout the postseason.

"The Celtics are 13-2 this postseason and 2-0 during the Finals in games where they’ve coughed the ball up fewer than 15 times, while they are just 1-7 overall and 0-3 against Golden State when they’ve given the ball away 15 times or more," Dubin wrote.

In the decisive Game 6 that Golden State won 103-90, the Celtics committed 22 turnovers. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined to average 7.3 turnovers in 24 playoff games.

The Celtics are operating from a position of power right now. They finished second in the NBA in net rating (+7.5) with a top 10 ratings on offense and defense, per Basketball-Reference.com. The bulk of their roster remains under contract for multiple years.

Tatum and Brown are one of the best young duos in the NBA. Tatum is signed through the 2024-25 season with a player option for 2025-26. Brown has two years remaining on his current deal.

Marcus Smart, the 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, is signed through the 2025-26 season. Al Horford has a partially-guaranteed deal in 2022-23 that is expected to be fully guaranteed for $26.5 million, per Brian Robb of MassLive.com.

If the Celtics do make moves this offseason, it seems likely it will be for lower-profile players. They don't need to pursue superstars in free agency or trades to be a Finals contender next season.

Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens wants Celtics superstar forward Jayson Tatum to get away for a bit following Boston's loss to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals.

According to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Stevens was asked Tuesday what advice he had for Tatum after the Finals, and he responded by saying he told Tatum to "go on vacation."

Stevens reportedly added that while Tatum would have liked for things to go differently in the Finals, he had an incredible season and is continuing to grow and learn.

The 24-year-old Tatum's fifth NBA season saw him named an All-Star for the third consecutive year and average career highs across the board with 26.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.0 three-pointers made. He also shot 45.3 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from long range.

Tatum was nearly as good during the playoffs with averages of 25.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 3.2 trifectas made. He was also named the inaugural Eastern Conference Finals MVP by virtue of leading Boston past the Miami Heat in seven games.

The former Duke standout did have some major ups and downs during the Finals, though, as did most of the Celtics players.

He scored 23 or more points in four of six Finals games and finished with averages of 21.5 points, 7.0 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 3.3 three-pointers made, but he shot just 36.7 percent from the field.

That included shooting just 6-of-18 from the floor for 13 points in the series-ending Game 6, which was in stark contrast to the 34 points put up by NBA Finals MVP and Warriors star Stephen Curry.

Ultimately, Tatum and the Celtics ran into a generational team that would not be denied its fourth championship in eight years

The Celtics have a chance to contend for many years to come with a core led by Tatum and Jaylen Brown, so the odds seem good that they will get another crack at championship glory in the near future.