The Celtics have been hiding a lot from the #nba

The Celtics did it again. Another trade that’s supposed to win them a championship, but that’s part of a problem that we’ve been seeing for years that’s kept them from actually winning. You might think that’s crazy, I mean the Celtics just got Kristaps Porzingis, a 7 foot 3 big that can shoot who averaged 23 points a game and is 27 years old and you’re right, the Celtics are a damn better team on paper but the issue with the Celtics was never talent or roster. I’m about to talk about the not so obvious behind the scenes that ruin the Celtics each year as they continue to build a toxic culture. And no I’m not saying don’t ever trade players. But the amount of shopping around the Celtics do to then not trade said players is also insane.

The original trade that was proposed involved Brogdon instead of Marcus Smart. And now you done traded Marcus Smart who has over and over again been undoubtedtly the heart and soul of the Celtics. But before we get to the on the court implications of losing Smart, it’s important to acknowledge that the Celtics treat their players like disposable assets when their feelings and mental state are crucial to the success of the team. And it’s not just role players

And that’s just with the current Celtics roster, but this has been happening for years. Remember Isaiah Thomas, the unprobable 5’ 9” star of the Celtics averaging 29 points a game in 2017, who played in the playoffs the day after his sister passed away but what did the Celtics did to him was damn near unforgivable. In the 2017 playoffs, Isaiah Thomas had a significant hip injury, yet continued to play carrying the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals putting up a 53 point game. He was set up for his first big contract next season and the Celtics didn’t want to pay him so they got the most out of him by playing through a hip injury that would eventually ruin Thomas’s career as he never fully recovered back to what he was doing.

Thomas all but confirmed it when he responded to the Celtics forcing another player to play through injury with “heard that before lol”.

In fact Isaiah claimed that the long term implications of his injury were never revealed to him.

Thomas never returned to his All-Star form, never got the big contract and was promptly traded for Kyrie Irving. That’s what loyalty, what putting it on all the line for the Celtics organization means now.

Even the Celtics locker room problems were blamed on Kyrie Irving, but why did the problems continue to this day? The answer is in plain sight, but so many missed it.

Kemba Walker, another star point guard, was pissed off with the Celtics culture in 2021, believing that they didn’t want him around long-term. And if one of your key guys is like that, how do you think that’s affecting the mood of the team?

In fact, In the past decade, the Celtics have never stood behind a player whether it’s been with Danny Ainge as president or Brad Stevens and it’s cost the team everything that I’m going to outline and show the receipts starting with trying to trade Jayson Tatum, the rookie that had just averaged 18.5 points in the playoffs helping lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals without Kyrie. Yup, Tatum was in several Anthony Davis packages that never panned out.

Jaylen Brown has constantly been in trade rumors his whole career on the Celtics, from the earlier KD trade package to Anthony Davis to Ben Simmons.

And you could say the culture starts with the players who lead to locker room, but at one point that was Kyrie and Hayward which created several problems. Then it was Tatum and Brown? At one point are we going to look at the dysfunction as a result of the front office’s ineptitude.

Heck just this past playoffs, Joe Mazulla, their current head coach, admitted there was a disconnect with the rest of the players. Marcus Smart even agreed that Joe should recieve the media’s criticism.

But all this can be traced to one league altering trade, when the Celtics traded away Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett for a bunch of roles players and 3 first round picks…since then the Celtics have always been in the mix to trade for star talent, mainly because they have all the assets. Since then, players have only been looked as assets. And the players feel that.

But more importantly, the Celtics organization needs to make players feel like this is a community.