Boston Celtics

The Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics put on an entertaining series in the 2022 NBA Finals, and the dates for their rematches in the upcoming season have reportedly been revealed.

The Athletic's Shams Charania reports that the first matchup will take place on Dec. 10 in San Francisco, and the two teams will meet again in Boston on Jan. 19.

The Warriors defeated the Celtics in six games to win their fourth championship in the last eight years. Golden State faced some adversity when it lost Game 1 at home and then fell behind 2-1 after Boston was victorious in Game 3.

But the series shifted in Game 4 when Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry put forth an all-time performance, pouring in 43 points to lead Golden State to a 10-point victory. The Warriors followed with another 10-point win at home in Game 5 behind a strong effort on both ends from Andrew Wiggins.

In the close-out game, Curry once again dominated with 34 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead the Warriors to a 103-90 victory in Boston. Wiggins, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole and Draymond Green each scored in double figures to support Curry's performance. The 34-year-old point guard was named Finals MVP for the first time in his illustrious career.

While the Celtics were never outclassed in the Finals series, the team will surely be hungry for revenge after falling short of its title aspirations. Boston's core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III remains intact, and the team added a key piece by trading for point guard Malcolm Brogdon.

Golden State also maintained its core, so there will be some familiarity between the two squads that should lead to some intense matchups in their two meetings this season.

The 2022-23 NBA season will reportedly kick off with a showdown between two title contenders in the Eastern Conference.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Jayson Tatum's Boston Celtics and Joel Embiid's Philadelphia 76ers will be part of an opening night doubleheader on TNT on Oct. 18.

The second game will be a previously reported clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

This is another piece of the puzzle as the 2022-23 schedule begins to come into view.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported the full schedule will be released Wednesday, and Charaniaoe previously provided a look at an intriguing slate of games that will take center stage on Christmas Day:

That the Celtics and 76ers will be nationally featured on opening night and Christmas Day was no surprise.

Boston was in the NBA Finals last season and features one of the best one-two punches in the league in Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Philadelphia hasn't made it past the second round of the playoffs since the 2000-01 campaign, but it has its own talented pair in Embiid and James Harden who could change that this season.

Throw in the rivalry between these Atlantic Division teams that always serves as the backdrop when they square off, and there is plenty to look forward to with the reported first clash.

Boston and Philadelphia fittingly split their four matchups last season, and whichever team comes out on top in the 2022-23 campaign could have the inside track for a higher seed and home-court advantage in what figures to be a tightly contested Eastern Conference race.

Fans won't have to wait long for the next chapter of the rivalry.

Despite being rumored as a potential trade candidate if the Boston Celtics make a move for Kevin Durant, Jaylen Brown doesn't seem like he's going to cause problems for his current team.

Per Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, one rival executive said they believe Brown is "all-in" on the Celtics for the long-term if they want to keep him.

"From everything I’ve been told, Jaylen’s a loyal guy. I know frustration can happen when things aren’t going well, and I think we saw some of that earlier in this past season," the executive said.

Last month, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the Celtics offered a package of Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Durant.

Word of that offer seemed to get back to Brown, based on this Twitter response:

Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe reported earlier this week that the Nets asked for Brown and Jayson Tatum from the Celtics when the two teams were discussing a deal.

We've seen in the past in various sports where a player will seek a trade if they hear that their current team was seeking to replace them or move them in a deal that doesn't come to fruition.

Former NFL MVP Matt Ryan admitted on the Ryen Russillo Podcast (h/t Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk) in May that the Atlanta Falcons' pursuit of Deshaun Watson led to him looking at different opportunities that might be available.

Ryan was eventually traded to the Indianapolis Colts.

There are some significant differences between the situation with Ryan and Brown. The Falcons are in a rebuilding situation, and Ryan turned 37 on May 17. He found a situation that at least gives him a chance to compete for a playoff spot in 2022.

Brown is 25 years old and was the second-best player on a Celtics team that made it to the NBA Finals last season. It's not an insult to be the centerpiece player in a trade proposal for Durant, who is still arguably one of the five best NBA players.

The Celtics are also entering a period when they could be over the luxury-tax line for multiple years with this current nucleus. Tatum could potentially sign a five-year extension worth almost $300 million after next season.

Brown's situation is tricky for the organization because he signed a team-friendly extension worth $106 million over four years in October 2019. The former All-Star could sign another extension on Oct. 1, but the average annual value would only be 120 percent of his 2023-24 salary ($28.51 million).

If Brown waits to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024, he would be eligible for a full max extension.

The Celtics know they are capable of competing for an NBA title with Brown as a key piece of their roster. He was named to the All-Star team during the 2021-22 season and has averaged at least 20 points and six rebounds per game in each of the past three seasons.

The Cal alum was arguably Boston's best player in the Finals. He averaged 23.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in six games against the Golden State Warriors.

The NBA announced Thursday it will honor Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell by retiring his No. 6 jersey across the league.

"Bill Russell’s unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way," commissioner Adam Silver said. "Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognized."

The number retirement begins with immediate effect, though players who already wear No. 6 can continue to do so.

In 1997, MLB retired Jackie Robinson's No. 42 jersey to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier.

Russell, who died at age 88 on July 31, is the first player to have his jersey retired by the NBA. It's a distinction befitting his achievements on the court and his legacy off it.

The 6'10" center won two consecutive titles at the University of San Francisco before becoming a 12-time All-Star, an 11-time NBA champion and a five-time MVP. He averaged 16.2 points and 24.9 rebounds across a 13-year career, establishing himself as one of the greatest players of all time.

The Celtics named him their player/head coach in 1966, making him the first Black head coach in the NBA. He won back-to-back titles in that role in 1968 and 1969.

Russell was also a civil rights pioneer. He took part in Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington in 1963 and was among the athletes to support Muhammad Ali at the Cleveland Summit. In 1961, he was at the center of a boycott by Celtics players ahead of an exhibition in Lexington, Kentucky, because two of his teammates, Sam Jones and Thomas Sanders, were denied service at a local coffee shop.

Russell also didn't shy away from recounting the racism he experienced in Boston while helping turn the Celtics into a dynasty in the 1960s.

Sociologist Harry Edwards described Russell as "brilliant" in a 2019 interview with Andscape's Martenzie Johnson.

"He is probably the most brilliant, intellectually, athlete that I have ever come across, and one of the most brilliant people that I’ve come across," Edwards said.

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reflected to Johnson on how Russell impacted his own activism.

"The thing that most affected me was that he approached injustice with passion, but he expressed himself rationally rather than with anger,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Anger never persuaded anyone to your side, but logic did. That was an approach I tried to adopt."

In addition to retiring his jersey, the NBA will celebrate Russell's life by having every team wear a commemorative jersey patch and place a commemorative logo on the sideline near the scorer's table.

President Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

While Jaylen Brown's status with the Boston Celtics remains uncertain, the front office has reportedly remained transparent as they explore a trade for Kevin Durant.

Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe reported president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and coach Ime Udoka remain in communication with Brown "all the time" to keep him abreast of trade talks.

Brown is also reportedly understanding of the Celtics' pursuit, which is a bit of a surprise given his subtweet of the situation last month.

Brown is also reportedly understanding of the Celtics' pursuit, which is a bit of a surprise given his subtweet of the situation last month.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the Celtics offered Brown, Derrick White and a future draft pick in exchange for Durant. The Nets countered by asking for Marcus Smart and multiple future draft picks along with Brown, an offer Boston declined.

Kurt Helin of NBC Sports reported the Celtics have also been resistant to give up center Robert Williams III, another potential defensive building block.

Brown has long been seen as the best young star the Nets could acquire for Durant, who requested a trade in June. Durant recently reiterated his desire to leave Brooklyn in a meeting with governor Joe Tsai, saying the team needed to fire coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks if Tsai wanted him to change his mind.

Tsai responded to the report on Twitter, making it clear he had no interest in acquiescing to Durant's demands.

Brown is no stranger to being on the trade block, having been bandied about in rumors for Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard in the past. It would be fair if Brown were a little fed up with the constant speculation and wanted an exit of his own. Brown has two years remaining on his contract and almost certainly will not sign an extension before hitting free agency, given he will be eligible to make more money if he allows his contract to expire.

Durant, by contrast, is under contract for four more seasons.

The Boston Celtics want Kevin Durant, and he apparently wants them back.

That said, Boston is driving a pretty hard bargain if it hopes to land the 12-time All-Star.

Kurt Helin of NBC Sports reported the Celtics are not making Robert Williams III available in trade talks with the Brooklyn Nets.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the Nets have asked for Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and multiple draft picks in exchange for Durant. Boston's initial offer included Derrick White, Brown and a future draft pick.

The Celtics have been hesitant to include Smart, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, along with Brown in trade packages.

While Brown is likely the best centerpiece Brooklyn can expect in any trade, the Nets clearly have their eyes on starrier role players than White and more future draft-pick compensation.

Williams and Smart were the anchors of the world-beating defense that led the Celtics to an Eastern Conference championship last season. Smart became the first guard to win DPOY since Gary Payton in 1995-96, while Williams took a leap as an interior menace with the lateral quickness to adequately switch on pick-and-rolls.

The Celtics defense allowed 3.7 points more points per 100 possessions with Williams on the bench, and their defense was 1.5 points better with Smart on the floor, according to Basketball Reference. A defensive downturn was particularly noticeable when Williams missed time in the postseason, playing a part in the Celtics needing seven games to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat.

It's understandable that the Celtics would be hesitant to part with Williams or Smart; they're arguably the Eastern Conference favorite even without Durant.

That said, it's not particularly realistic. Brown, as great as he is, has never sniffed being an All- NBA player. He's six years into his career and may have topped out as good-but-not-great. Durant is a once-in-a-generation talent, even as he approaches age 34.

If the Celtics want to pull off the blockbuster, they will likely have to bend and include either Smart or Williams at some point.

Kevin Durant "would like to play with" Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart if the Brooklyn Nets sent him to the Celtics in a trade, according to SNY's Ian Begley.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported July 25 the Celtics were willing to trade Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick for Durant but balked when Brooklyn requested Smart and more draft picks to be included.

When it comes to Durant's preferences, The Athletic's Sam Amick filed a similar report July 1 about the 12-time All-Star's desires in Miami. "Durant, it seems, would only want to play on a Heat team that includes Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry," Amick wrote.

In that case, though, Amick listed off three of Miami's best trade assets, one of whom (Adebayo) would presumably be viewed as the cornerstone in any deal from the Nets' perspective.

Boston could take Smart off the table and still assemble an attractive package built around Brown. Some combination of Brown along with White, Robert Williams III, Grant Willams or Payton Pritchard plus picks isn't bad.

The bigger hurdle is Brooklyn's potential reluctance to send Durant to another Eastern Conference team, especially one in the same division.

Charania reported Monday that Durant told team governor Joe Tsai the organization had to choose between him or head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks. Tsai's response left little doubt about how he's handling the matter:

In his report, Charania reported, "Tsai and the Nets have made clear privately that they will take every last asset from a team that trades for Durant."

One presumes Brooklyn would be especially demanding if a rival such as the Celtics was on the other side of the bargaining table. Why not consider Smart a dealbreaker?

The Nets could certainly use the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Their first-round picks for the foreseeable future are either owed to the Houston Rockets or tied to the Rockets in pick swaps.

Following a Durant trade, Marks or whoever is running the team would have to thread a difficult needle between remaining respectable while building another championship contender. The presence of Smart would help raise the Nets' floor in a post-Durant future.

The Brooklyn Nets are going to drive a hard bargain when it comes to a potential trade for Kevin Durant.

They even reportedly asked the Boston Celtics for their two best players in early talks, according to a report from Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe:

"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 potential deal centered on Brown, Marcus Smart and a massive haul of future first-round draft picks. But the Celtics were not interested."

On Monday, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that the Nets have "set a sky-high threshold for the return the franchise wants for Durant" and that Brooklyn governor Joe Tsai and the team "have made clear privately that they will take every last asset from a team that trades for Durant, sources said."

Within that context, asking for both Tatum and Brown in initial trade talks doesn't come as a huge surprise, even if the Nets surely knew it would be a nonstarter for Boston.

Shams' report came after Durant met with Tsai and reportedly reiterated his desire to be traded. He additionally requested that he either be dealt or that the team fire head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks, reportedly telling Tasi he "does not have faith in the team's direction."

It didn't take long for Tsai to make his choice:

The Nets remain in limbo, with the futures of both Durant and Kyrie Irving—who is heading into the final year of his contract after exercising his $36.5 million player option—in question.

The Celtics have emerged as a potential contender in trade talks involving Durant, largely because they could build an offer around a young talent like Brown. The question is whether it would make sense to break apart the young duo of Tatum (24) and Brown (25) after a trip to the NBA Finals this season and the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2019-20 campaign, all for the 33-year-old Durant.

Brown didn't put his best foot forward in the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, averaging 23.5 points per game in the series but turning the ball over 10 times between Games 5 and 6. His handle looked suspect against the Dubs.

Durant unquestionably would be an immediate upgrade. But Brown is just entering his prime years and has already proved he can help lead the C's deep into the playoffs. Boston may not be willing to give up on his potential just yet.

Certainly, the Celtics were never going to entertain trading both Tatum and Brown.

The Boston Celtics are the early betting favorites to be the best regular-season team in the 2022-23 NBA season.

Caesars Sportsbook set Boston's over/under at 54.5 wins, per ESPN's Doug Kezirian. The Phoenix Suns follow closely behind at 53.5 wins, while the Milwaukee Bucks and defending champion Golden State Warriors are tied at 52.5.

The Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs all bring up the rear at 24.5 wins.

Depending on your viewpoint, this is either a great time to place bets on over/unders or far too volatile a landscape to make wagers with any confidence.

The futures of the Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and the Utah Jazz's Donovan Mitchell remain uncertain.

On the Durant front, Nets team governor Joe Tsai publicly supported head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks after The Athletic's Shams Charania reported KD issued an ultimatum to Tsai to pick him or the pair of Nash and Marks.

Caesars Sportsbook set the Nets' win total at 45.5.

You should take the over if you think Durant and Irving are sticking around because Brooklyn won 48 games in 2020-21 and notched 44 victories in 2021-22 despite Irving missing more than half of that season. Should one or both of Durant and Irving leave, you might as well burn your betting slip if you bet the over.

"We just have to go off of what we know now," said Adam Pullen, Caesars Sportsbook's assistant director of trading. "One thing I am not high on is predicting where players are going. If [Durant or Irving] gets traded, then we have to adjust to the news."

The Jazz are pegged at 32.5 wins, a steep decline for a franchise that went 49-33 last season.

A 32-50 record would've put Utah 12th in the Western Conference last year. That seems somewhat low for a team that lost Rudy Gobert and Royce O'Neale but still has Mitchell, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson.

Of course, the Jazz likely become the NBA's worst team if they trade Mitchell and go into a full fire sale. And that's a possibility between now and opening night.