Celtics Play by Play Announcer Previews NBA Finals | Garden Report - video Dailymotion

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Bobby Manning welcomes Drew Carter to the Garden Report to preview the NBA Finals and look back at the East Finals championship the Celtics won on Monday. Is it title or bust for Boston now? What kind of threat do Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks pose? Are they or Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum the better do in a series? Plus, what Drew's first season calling Celtics games was like.  0:00 - Celtics to NBA Finals 5:19 - Anticipating drama in series 7:01 - Impact of Lively's absence 9:00 - Celtics vs. Mavericks Duos 16:05 - Copying and pasting 19:10 - Importance of Porzingis 24:08 - Daily fantasy sports partner 27:33 - Al Horford's leadership 29:22 - Jaylen Brown's MVP 32:08 - Positive Team Demeanor 36:00 - Tatum's Career Trajectory 39:54 - Tatum's Evolving Game 41:27 - Tatum's Versatility 45:00 - Reflecting on Year One 48:21 - Era of Change 53:18 - Lessons from Bill  This episode of the Garden Report is brought to you by:  Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS  Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.  Elevate your style game on and off the course with the PXG Spring Summer 2024 collection. Head over to https://PXG.com/GARDENREPORT and save 10% on all apparel. Use Code GARDEN REPORT!

Transcript

00:00 Hey, Bobby Manning here.

00:04 Welcome to a Wednesday edition of the Garden Report back from Indianapolis.

00:10 On to the NBA Finals.

00:12 Drew Carter is here to get into it.

00:14 And Drew, first year calling Celtics games, NBA Finals.

00:19 How about that?

00:20 It's funny how things just work out sometimes, B-Man.

00:24 Thanks for having me on.

00:26 You know, when the Celtics traded for Drew Holiday, it was around the same time that

00:34 I knew I was getting the job.

00:36 And I was like, wow, this could happen.

00:39 Steve could win a championship the first year I'm working with them.

00:42 So that'd be pretty neat.

00:44 Yeah.

00:45 And so we don't have a matchup here yet, but it seems imminent.

00:48 Celtics-Mavericks.

00:49 Mavs lose last night, which extends it a little bit, which I'm fine with.

00:53 I want as many games going on here.

00:55 Thank God.

00:56 Thank God.

00:57 What are we supposed to do for the next week and a half if we don't have that series to

00:59 watch?

01:00 And inside the NBA.

01:01 Yeah, for sure.

01:02 That too.

01:03 And I'll take a sixth game there if that's what it comes to.

01:06 But I do, I wanted Mavs-Celtics, or Wolves-Celtics at first because I like the contrast of like

01:14 the Celtics offense and the Wolves defense.

01:17 And I just felt like it would have been a fascinating series personality-wise.

01:22 But I actually have come around on the Brown-Tatum versus Luka Kairi thing, the way that Mavs

01:29 team has looked throughout this run here, and even just the Dallas component.

01:33 I'm excited to go down to Dallas and check that out.

01:36 So this to me is becoming an intriguing matchup here as it looks like it's going to be the

01:41 imminent one.

01:42 And I guess since, you know, the Celtics would probably be favorited over them or the Wolves

01:48 at this point, you know, a lot of people pick Denver to be that favorite this year or the

01:53 Celtics.

01:54 So now it's the Celtics versus one of these two teams.

01:58 Kind of feels like title or bust at this point.

01:59 Like you got it, it's great you won the East.

02:01 It's great you had this run you did here.

02:04 And I think the players felt the same way that you have to get it done at this point.

02:09 I think it's been title or bust for a long time.

02:13 Ever since they brought in Porzingis and Drew.

02:17 To me, it was always title or bust, regardless of matchup.

02:23 You know, even if we played Denver in the finals, I think that was it'll be the case.

02:28 This Celtics team was so dominant in the regular season, you know, doing things that are rarely

02:34 seen in the modern NBA.

02:36 I mean, going into a finals with 20 losses total is pretty rare.

02:43 I think Bill Simmons tweeted it, there have been maybe seven teams to do that, seven or

02:47 eight.

02:48 And they all won the title except the Warriors who won 73 that year they lost to LeBron.

02:54 And even that, you know, some stuff goes differently that they could easily win that series.

02:59 So I think once we saw this team fully formed and saw how seamlessly Holiday and Porzingis

03:08 fit combined with how successful they've been in the last almost decade, making six of the

03:14 last eight conference finals, I think it's always been title or bust.

03:17 Now that doesn't mean that Minnesota or Dallas isn't going to present a huge challenge.

03:23 They will.

03:25 But I still think the Celtics should be favored.

03:29 And it's the same thing.

03:30 It's been all season where they have to win a championship or else the season won't be

03:33 a success.

03:34 I don't think that's anything new.

03:35 Yeah, absolutely.

03:36 And I think that's the mindset they did going into the season with with this group.

03:40 And I think just the matchup here makes it a little bit more of the case because going

03:45 up against Denver, it's the defending champs.

03:47 It's Jokic.

03:48 He felt inevitable at a certain point this year.

03:51 So I would have at least looked at it if they lost to Denver and been like, especially,

03:55 you know, it would have been a way they lost to Denver in my mind.

03:57 Like they went to a seventh game down the stretch and he hits one of those Jokic flip

04:02 shots at the buzzer.

04:03 It's like or four Murray hits like a ridiculous fade away 20 footer.

04:07 Yeah.

04:08 And it's going to be similar in this series, I feel like to like, how's it going to look?

04:11 And that's what I'm trying to wrap my head around right now, because first round I give

04:16 Miami the benefit of the doubt because it's Miami and we know how Celtics heats goes.

04:21 But the Heat just gets so injured by the fifth game.

04:25 They have three rotation guys out and they just fade away.

04:29 And you know, credit to the Celtics for taking care of business there.

04:31 But it is what it is injury wise.

04:33 Round two, similar deal.

04:34 It looks like the Cavs are going to really compete.

04:37 Push that six, maybe even seven games.

04:39 And then Mitchell goes down and it's like, ooh, there you go.

04:42 Allen never plays in that series.

04:43 And now third round, Halliburton goes down.

04:46 It becomes a sweep, very competitive sweep, almost like a Brooklyn 2022 style sweep.

04:52 But the path has been favorable to for the Celtics to this point.

04:56 There's no doubt about it.

04:57 And now I'm just imagining what this Dallas series is going to look like or Minnesota

05:01 if there's history made here.

05:02 And it's like, all right.

05:05 Lively's out probably here.

05:07 We'll see what happens there with the neck injury.

05:09 But it's a pretty much fully formed Mavericks team.

05:12 And that's going to be a little different than some of the previous rounds.

05:14 I know Luke is a little banged up too here.

05:17 But to me, it's going to be a real series.

05:19 It's going to be a longer series.

05:20 It's going to be a series with some amount of drama, which hasn't been the case to this

05:25 point so far, at least in terms of like, ooh, the Celtics could lose this.

05:29 They actually have to like play out a full series here against a fully loaded team.

05:33 Yeah, the drama, I think the drama is the key word because I've been trying to put my

05:39 finger on it and it doesn't, it hasn't really felt like a playoff game.

05:49 It hasn't felt that way at different times during the playoffs.

05:52 And I'm not saying like the crowd isn't loud enough or whatever.

05:55 I'm not going to hop on that narrative, which I think is ridiculous.

05:57 I mean, we've both been in the building.

05:59 I think at times it's been eerily quiet when, you know, when the Celtics aren't playing

06:05 well.

06:06 But to me, the pops have been huge and I think the crowds have actually been pretty good.

06:10 So that's not why I say that.

06:11 It's more what you said about there's not a lot of drama, not much suspense.

06:17 It's more like, wow, if the Celtics don't win this, it'll be a disaster, but they should.

06:23 Now going into this series, I don't have that feeling at all.

06:26 Like I actually do think it's up in the air.

06:30 And like I said, I think the Celtics should be the favorites and they will be, but you

06:34 look at what each of these teams have put out there and I'm not writing off Minnesota.

06:37 I know it's never happened before, but they got game five at home and they should have

06:45 the edge there, even though they haven't been very good at home in this playoffs, but they

06:48 got game five at home, game six, all the pressure would be on Dallas and then game seven, anything

06:53 can happen.

06:54 I don't want to sound like Kevin Millar here, but game seven, anything can happen.

06:59 And you said Lively, dude, I think that's such a huge loss for them.

07:03 Like Daniel Gafford is one of my favorite players, so I've been late to acknowledge

07:08 this, but Lively is their best center.

07:10 I've never heard someone say Daniel Gafford's one of my favorite players.

07:14 He's just Bobby.

07:15 I think he's awesome to watch and he always, he's really fun to listen to as well.

07:19 I think he's got a really good sense of himself and his role.

07:23 And I also, I just love the fact that he was basically thrown a life preserver from the

07:27 sinking wizard ship and here he is and he's contributing and probably going to be playing

07:32 in a finals.

07:33 I love watching him play and I love Lively as well.

07:36 And so if they don't have him, it really throws a wrench into their whole two center system,

07:40 which to me has been one of the coolest stories of the playoffs is how Jason Kidd platoons

07:44 those guys.

07:45 And then Lively is a rookie, a young rookie at that with his playmaking.

07:49 In addition to all this stuff, that's kind of obvious when you watch him, you know, the

07:52 rim running and the protection of the rim on the other side.

07:54 So his playmaking has been huge and they lose that when he's not in there.

07:59 So if Lively is really out, and by the way, next brain, really?

08:05 I mean, it kind of feels like we're covering the NFL at this point and I don't know, I

08:10 don't have any insight Intel, but to me for that to be a next brain, it's a little surprising.

08:15 But if they don't have him, they could have problems in game five and then all of a sudden

08:21 you better win game six or else all the belief is going to be on the side of Minnesota.

08:25 So I do not think that series is over by any means.

08:28 They better put him away last night, like Anthony Edwards was saying on that mic though.

08:34 Then he was great.

08:35 Big shot, long two down the stretch there.

08:38 Cat hit all those threes.

08:40 Was that the longest two of the season, by the way?

08:42 I think he had like three toes on the line.

08:44 In honor of Kevin Garnett, right?

08:47 Yeah.

08:48 I mean, Terrell Mori is rolling over.

08:51 He's losing sleep over the fact that that was a mid range, not a three.

08:54 I 100% agree with this not being over, especially look at you look hobbled out there, which

09:01 isn't great.

09:02 Isn't it weird?

09:03 Yeah.

09:04 For either how long this series goes or if they advance here, and I know they'll have

09:08 a lot of time off for him to get right if they do win in five here.

09:13 But that doesn't look great, especially with what we're talking about here.

09:16 Three opposing teams, best player going down to this point against the Celtics here.

09:20 He's going to play through whatever you would think.

09:23 But it is part of this conversation we're going to have here.

09:25 You know, if it is Celtics Mavericks, the duos here, it's going to be a big story in

09:30 this series.

09:31 Luka, you know, MVP candidate, first team guy, one of the more wide ranging offensive

09:38 impacts in the league here.

09:39 Kyrie rejuvenated.

09:40 Fantastic.

09:41 Some amazing halfs from him during this playoff run.

09:45 And then you got Brandon Tatum doing what they're doing.

09:47 And Brown wins the East Finals MVP, which I'm thrilled about.

09:50 I feel like it's overdue for him to get recognition like that, especially for what he's been doing

09:55 on this run.

09:56 And then Tatum, who started the playoffs a little slow, got going in this series here

10:01 at different points, especially the game, game three on the road there.

10:05 So how do you compare these duos?

10:08 How much of the series will be about these duos and their ability to perform?

10:11 Yeah, it's a good question.

10:13 I feel like I'm on first take right now with this.

10:17 Because you know, they probably have already done this segment, even though the series

10:22 isn't set yet.

10:23 I love, I'm trying to think of the topic.

10:25 We did a topic before first take.

10:28 It was almost exact.

10:29 I'm gonna have to think about it.

10:30 Go ahead and answer this.

10:32 Yeah, well, it's fascinating, right?

10:34 Because I mean, if this is the matchup, it is juicy, baby.

10:40 It's juicy.

10:41 It's Kyrie against the Celtics, which has been well documented.

10:44 Has he beaten the Celtics since stepping on Lucky?

10:47 10 straight.

10:48 Yeah, so there's that.

10:51 Then there's Porzingis against his former team.

10:54 And this might be my hot take of the show.

10:57 So it's fitting with first take.

10:59 I think the Mavericks franchise, and this includes everybody, front office, coaches,

11:06 players, has more animosity toward Porzingis than the Celtics do toward Kyrie.

11:10 That's my read on it.

11:13 Because when KP was in Dallas, he was obviously a little bit younger.

11:18 It's been well documented how he and Luca didn't always mesh.

11:23 And Porzingis has talked about that on other shows.

11:25 I know he was on JJ Reddick's pod talking about some stories where it just didn't really

11:28 work out.

11:31 And I think it's fair to say that maybe the folks in Dallas aren't surprised that Porzingis

11:38 hasn't played much in the playoffs.

11:41 So to me, that's a really juicy one.

11:45 But as pertains to these duos, I mean, the differences are obvious where Luca and Kyrie

11:52 are really not impactful defensively, although I do think they've been pretty good in the

11:56 postseason.

11:57 But from a reputation perspective, and mostly in reality, they're not the defenders that

12:02 the Celtics guys are.

12:04 The key is going to be in crunch time.

12:07 I think if you're the Celtics, a lesson from this Western Conference Finals, they're 100%

12:14 about it.

12:15 And the guys around them compliment them super well.

12:18 And you don't want to get into a situation where you're switching that pick and roll

12:21 with Luca because we've seen what happens.

12:23 I think Horford is obviously a little bit more nimble on the perimeter than Gobert,

12:27 but Al has struggled in pick and roll coverage in these playoffs.

12:30 That's the biggest worry for Boston going into this series.

12:34 Obviously, dude, that's the thing.

12:36 If Porzingis isn't 100%, and I love Al, and he's had moments of brilliance in these playoffs,

12:44 but you don't want to go into a series like this where your only five men really is in

12:50 year 17 against the most active duo of centers in the NBA.

12:54 You just don't want that.

12:56 And against two guys who will absolutely dice you in the pick and roll.

13:00 So if Luca and Kyrie can do enough to get it where it's within five points with under

13:05 five minutes to play, the Celtics could be in trouble because look, that's been the problem

13:10 for this team in the past.

13:13 I think the clutch stuff has been overblown this season.

13:16 If you look at their clutch numbers, the Celtics are in the top five of basically every category.

13:20 But we have seen a few times where the offense will stagnate and the Mavs offense is not

13:25 going to stagnate.

13:26 So to me, the Celtics best path to victory here is putting them away early and not having

13:32 to worry about those clutch moments down the stretch.

13:36 Yeah, it's a good point on that.

13:38 And I think that from a scheme perspective is going to be the most interesting thing

13:42 in this series.

13:43 How Manzula handles that.

13:44 And to this point, his thinking has been give up the twos, don't give up the threes in that

13:49 spot.

13:50 So I do think that they're going to probably lean in on giving up some of those dump off

13:55 LU passes, but it's dangerous.

13:56 You saw it in this series.

13:57 Like Siakam took all the twos you gave him.

14:00 Nembhard took all the runs to the rim you gave him.

14:02 And it got a little dicey in some of those games, but the math usually worked out down

14:06 the stretch.

14:07 So I actually do like Manzula's ability to handle that.

14:09 And we'll get into him a little bit later, but you mentioned Kristaps.

14:13 I generally think they need him here.

14:15 You know, you mentioned the AL stuff.

14:17 The depth has come through to some degree.

14:20 Like Luke's had his moments.

14:21 I thought Tillman gave them a little something at the end of that series.

14:24 Reset had his game.

14:26 But I think they've gotten what you're going to get out of that group.

14:30 Like Al's been incredible.

14:32 He's had the moments with less rest where he hasn't looked as good.

14:35 And then the depth guys are more matchup dependent here.

14:38 So going against this frontcourt, especially if lively's in play here, I mean, it's a,

14:42 it's a dynamic duo in there.

14:44 And then you throw in Washington and that makes two is able to hit those corner threes

14:47 there.

14:48 It's, it's a pretty daunting physical group that you're going against there.

14:52 So I think you're going to need him at the very least to prevent this series from going

14:56 six, seven and being in doubt here.

14:59 You're going to need some version of that poor Zingas that you saw throughout the year.

15:02 And he had some struggles early in that first round series as well.

15:06 You know, you almost wonder if he was starting to already decline a little bit physically

15:09 before the injury there.

15:11 And, you know, you mentioned it's, it's, it's stretched on here, not a ton from Joe.

15:15 I think just Joe being Joe on the update stuff here.

15:18 I don't really have a good sense of where it's at otherwise.

15:21 But they have a lot of time going into this series and he'll be five and a half weeks

15:24 out from the injury at that point.

15:25 So to me, you know, again, without any info here on my end, I'd be surprised if he's not

15:31 ready for game one.

15:33 Yeah.

15:34 I'm in the same boat.

15:36 You know, we heard the report that he'd be ready potentially for a game four in Indiana.

15:43 Now that the verbiage, and that was from Woj by the way, the verbiage on the injury reporting

15:50 has been bizarre.

15:53 Like had you ever heard the terminology minimum of at least several games until Kristaps Porzingis

16:01 and his calf injury?

16:02 I had never heard that.

16:04 And to me, it seems, it seems by the way, what does that even mean?

16:10 It seems like, it seems like, and I was also, I was doing a sports center the day after

16:15 that report came out, I was doing the morning show and I was writing that script.

16:20 And I, it was like four in the morning, we were doing the morning show.

16:24 So I just copied and pasted that exact line, a minimum of several games from the report

16:30 into the script.

16:31 And one of our producers was like, drew a minimum, a minimum of several games.

16:36 What does that mean?

16:37 And I was like, you're right.

16:38 I didn't even think about that.

16:40 What does that mean?

16:41 So I changed the script a little bit.

16:45 And I think I just put several games, which is still pretty ambiguous, but you know, the

16:51 reporting seemed to be that he might be ready for a game four if they, if they felt like

16:54 they needed him.

16:56 I don't know.

16:57 I have no insight until, to me, I think like I expected them to try to get him in one of

17:04 those games against Indiana just to see how he responded to live game action.

17:10 So you don't throw him back into the fire and the NBA finals after over a month away.

17:15 But with just how that series played out, maybe they thought, Hey, look, we can finish

17:20 this off without him and it's better to get him that rest.

17:23 I don't even know really what he's been doing.

17:26 So Joe went on the radio this morning and said he's been doing stuff off to the side

17:31 at shoot arounds, hasn't participated in the shoot arounds through this last series.

17:34 And of course they're not practicing at this point, I do these finals.

17:38 So I don't think he's practiced yet to this point either.

17:41 But he's progressing.

17:42 You know, he's starting to do more and more out there in those individual workouts.

17:46 So finally a little something from Joe this morning, credit to the 98.5 guys who are the

17:50 only ones who seem to get him to talk.

17:54 And we've seen that a little bit at shoot around, right?

17:56 Like he's, he's moving around, he's doing some stuff.

18:00 Scal has said like for the ramp up process, you probably want to get him in some short

18:04 bursts, like a three minute scrimmage, maybe some shooting drills and then a couple of

18:10 sequences.

18:11 Maybe a little bit on the floor with, you know, running the pick and pop and then defending

18:15 a pick and roll and then, you know, shooting on the other side and stuff like that.

18:20 And the good thing is Bobby, we got over a week to ramp up.

18:24 But obviously it's, it's different trying to simulate a live game versus actually playing

18:29 in one, I guess, especially against a team like Dallas where he's going to be asked to

18:32 do a lot.

18:34 And poor Zingas, I think the reason he's so important in this series is not necessarily

18:41 what makes him the unicorn.

18:43 It's I don't think the three point shooting is his biggest role here.

18:46 It's protecting the rim and disrupting that pick and roll where Lively or Gafford or Jones

18:54 even are diving to the rim and the Celtics just need a little bit extra room protection

18:58 and rebounding against a team that's really big and super active.

19:01 So they're going to ask them to do a lot.

19:04 Maybe it's a thing where we see him on like a minute's limit in the finals, which feels

19:07 weird to say, just like it's kind of weird to say you got to get them ramped up in the

19:11 Eastern Conference finals, but that's where we are.

19:14 I'm with you, man.

19:15 I think he's key for this series.

19:16 Yeah.

19:17 And that's the thing.

19:18 I love Cornette to death, but having poor Zingas out there, whatever percent he is,

19:24 is better than having Luke out there in this series in particular.

19:27 Again, I think there's certain matchup for Luke and Excel, but this is more of a Chris

19:32 Stapp series, especially if you want to challenge their opposing bigs with his forestretching

19:36 even because that's another factor in having him out there is just him coming out of that

19:40 pick and pop will pull guys up.

19:42 So that's a benefit.

19:44 And then the mats are great defensively.

19:46 Ever since the deadline, they've been a great defensive team and we know how important poor

19:50 Zingas is to the offense.

19:51 Yeah, a lot of size.

19:54 But yeah, and if he is limited, you're able to play two styles there too, because the

19:58 one thing with him out, they've been able to play a little faster.

20:01 I mean, this series, the way they played with pace against Indiana, I was actually surprised

20:07 they embraced the pace of that series and they ended up being the better team, the more

20:11 controlled team playing fast than Indiana was, who, especially in those Boston games,

20:15 was just turning the ball over like crazy.

20:18 So that's a benefit if you don't have them out there, I guess.

20:22 But I think the size, the ability to drop back, take away the room from some of those

20:26 centers in certain possessions.

20:28 And I feel like that's going to be the answer if you do want to negate that pick and roll

20:32 a little bit, it's just to have a guy back.

20:34 But at that point, you let Luca and Kyrie step into threes.

20:38 You mentioned a little bit Dallas not being surprised that he's missed this amount of

20:42 time, the several games, and then just sort of the ramp up here for him.

20:48 It's weird to me, right?

20:50 Because they've been so good without him.

20:53 And it felt like a lot of the explanation for why things were different this year was,

20:56 oh, you went out and got Chris Stapps, and he was his piece that changed everything.

20:59 And then they played at this high, high level throughout the playoffs without him here.

21:04 So let's say he doesn't play, and they still win the championship.

21:07 It's going to be weird.

21:09 I know.

21:10 Because he was the difference maker for a lot of this year.

21:14 He goes down, they're 12 and 2 without him.

21:17 They get all these benefits the other way.

21:20 So I guess that's part of the explanation there is that the other teams have just gotten

21:23 even more injured than Boston is here.

21:25 But I feel like they need him.

21:27 I do.

21:28 And it's tough that you go out, he's this healthy all year, you rest him this much,

21:34 and he's pretty much gone the whole postseason here.

21:36 And there's still some question going into the finals of whether he's going to be available.

21:39 Because this was obviously the risk when you went out and got him, right?

21:43 And the Mavs are sitting there, as you mentioned, and saying, now you know how it was for us

21:47 on that side.

21:48 Yeah.

21:49 And I would just say to anybody who thinks that we don't need poor Zingas in the finals,

21:57 without him, to me, the Celtics are a lot like the Thunder in this respect.

22:04 Super deep, really good on both ends of the floor.

22:07 Good in transition, good in half court.

22:10 But a little bit undersized.

22:12 And think about OKC.

22:14 They've got really one center in Chet Holmgren, and his weakness is his lack of girth, right?

22:23 Think about the Celtics, how they're currently constructed without KP.

22:27 One real center in Al Horford, and both those guys are more like fours than fives, but they

22:33 play center for their team.

22:35 And his "weakness," quote unquote, which hasn't really impacted him mostly in these playoffs,

22:40 is his age and all the tread on the tires.

22:44 And if you look at how that series unfolded, Mavs-Thunder, OKC's lack of size and lack

22:50 of depth in the frontcourt really hurt them.

22:53 Especially like we talked about, against those two big guys from Dallas.

22:57 So to me, I do think we need poor Zingas for the finals.

23:02 But you're right, it would be kind of weird, especially if you think about whom the Celtics

23:08 gave up to get poor Zingas.

23:09 I think that would, I'm sure no one's going to be upset if the Celtics win at all, but

23:15 I'm sure some Celtics fans will be like, "Damn, Marcus should be here."

23:21 It's not fair, the guy we got didn't even play.

23:24 So that part of it would be kind of strange.

23:26 Yeah, for sure.

23:27 And that actually does bring me to our next conversation here, because I don't want to

23:30 pile on Smart, but I do think there was one benefit to him not being here this year.

23:34 There's your tease, SportsCenter style.

23:37 Nice.

23:38 Coming up.

23:39 Yeah.

23:40 We are brought to you by great sponsors like PrizePix.

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24:30 I want to give a shout out to Game Time.

24:33 You know, Drew, it's going to be hard to get in that building next week.

24:37 It's going to be really hard.

24:38 So if anyone's going to get you in there, it's going to be Game Time.

24:42 Check out their app, create an account, use the code CLNS for $20 off your first ticket

24:46 purchase over there.

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25:00 even a little bit after.

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25:04 They just throw them on there, try to get what they can.

25:06 And you got your $20 off code on your first purchase here too with CLNS.

25:10 Of course, terms apply.

25:11 Check out the Game Time app.

25:13 So you know, you mentioned that Marcus is out the door.

25:17 The thing that stuck out to me throughout this run and one of my big questions coming

25:21 into the year after they sent out Smart this summer was who's going to take over that vocal

25:28 role.

25:29 And to me, it took a little while here, but Brown embraced it in a way that blew me away

25:37 because he's a quieter guy, right?

25:39 Like he keeps to himself, especially earlier in his career.

25:42 I don't think he used his voice much, but to have these like mic'd up, you know, scenes

25:48 throughout these playoffs, I'm sure you've seen him, Drew, where he's like telling Tatum

25:51 to like, you know, go get Nesmith, go after him.

25:54 And, you know, I think there was another situation where he's like, you're big deuce, you're

25:58 big deuce, come on, let's go.

26:00 Like those moments were a change from what we've seen from Jalen in the past.

26:04 And certainly his game went to another level here with him winning East Finals MVP.

26:10 But in many ways, and I wrote this after Game 4, and this isn't like the whole Tatum Brown

26:13 thing to me, because I asked Tatum about this and I feel like he thought I was going in

26:18 this direction.

26:19 But to me, it's like a different story.

26:21 Like Tatum is the tone setter on this team from a game standpoint, from a skill standpoint,

26:27 like he's initiating possessions, he's the passer, all that stuff.

26:31 But from like our urgency, voice, leadership perspective, I don't think there's any doubt

26:37 that Brown has kind of taken that mantle and ran with it here.

26:41 Yeah, I agree.

26:43 I was lucky enough to be right behind the bench for Game 5 against Cleveland.

26:49 And I thought the two most vocal guys were Horford and JB.

26:57 By the way, there was a great moment with Al Horford where it was in the first quarter

27:02 and there was an out of bounds that the refs gave it to the Celtics.

27:06 It was pretty clearly off of us.

27:08 It should have been Cleveland's ball.

27:09 And so Al knew they were going to challenge it.

27:12 And the ball ended up with D. White.

27:15 He was sitting on the bench and Al came sprinting over and clapped at him like, "Give me the

27:19 ball, give me the ball, give me the ball."

27:21 And Derek held it for like a split second.

27:24 And that was enough time for them to cut that time out and hit the challenge.

27:28 And Al was pissed.

27:29 It was so funny.

27:31 It was really, really good.

27:32 But you could see the leadership of Horford.

27:35 And D. White, he kind of smiled afterward.

27:37 He's like, "I know I messed that up.

27:39 That wasn't me."

27:40 And Al has always filled that lane.

27:42 And it brings me back to a moment before the '21-'22 season where E. May's trying to pick

27:46 captains.

27:48 And that's like his big thing early on is, you know, we're going to have two captains.

27:51 And it's like, all right, two captains, like, come on, you know what he's doing there.

27:57 But then Smart comes out and he's like, you know, we don't really need captains.

28:02 We're grown men.

28:03 And Tatum's like, I agree.

28:05 And Brown's like, you know, Al should be the captain.

28:07 And E. May's just like, you know what, never mind, we're not having captains.

28:12 And so that's where the leadership dynamic was then.

28:15 And now for those, you know, of course there's no captains and there's still that talk of

28:19 like general leadership here and everybody having a voice.

28:22 But to have Brown just kind of grasp that at this point, because Al's going to do that

28:26 stuff, you mentioned, right?

28:28 But he's Al, like he's the fifth, sixth guy on the team.

28:31 His role is a little smaller.

28:32 He's not the guy who's kind of changing games.

28:35 And Smart was in a similar place where it's like, he's going to grasp that vocal thing,

28:41 but he's not like the tone setter on the court.

28:43 And Tatum's still that here.

28:45 But Brown's at least equal with him here, especially you see the postseason so far.

28:50 Brown's been every bit as important, maybe more as Tatum has to this point, at least

28:54 statistically here.

28:55 So to have a guy who's like his equal, being that voice on the team, you have to listen.

29:00 You have to embrace that voice.

29:01 You have to take it seriously.

29:03 And to finally have one of those guys take that on has been so important here, I think.

29:11 I'm really happy for Jalen too, getting that award.

29:15 And I think it's one of the best things that could happen to the Celtics is having him

29:19 win Eastern Conference Finals.

29:21 Were you surprised?

29:23 A little bit, yeah, because Tatum was better statistically.

29:26 Tatum's assist numbers were huge, but JB shot better than 50% again, which is pretty much

29:33 par for the course for him at this point.

29:35 And he was better handling the ball than he has been in the past.

29:38 So a little bit surprised.

29:39 The thing that would surprise me the most, Bobby, is if you saw the voting, Holiday didn't

29:44 get a single vote, which I was kind of surprised.

29:47 I was expecting one Drew vote.

29:48 And maybe that changes in game four there, because that obviously comes into play.

29:53 Because going into game four, it fell even.

29:57 And Tatum has that start, and Brown finishes it.

30:00 Yeah, he makes the game-winning pass in the series.

30:03 He starts the series with the two game-changing plays in game one.

30:07 And honestly, no matter what happens from that point on, unless Brown just kind of went

30:12 in the tank and Tatum took over, it's hard to not look at a moment like that to start

30:16 a series and say, that changed the whole dynamic of the series.

30:20 And that's why you're MVP.

30:21 Right, right.

30:22 I also think, not to get us off track here, but just getting this off my chest, anytime

30:28 we complain about somebody not getting enough votes, or this person should have been unanimous,

30:35 it's crazy that they weren't, let's remember that every person votes for themselves.

30:42 You don't have, it's not like I have 100 points to give, and I think Jalen deserves 60, and

30:47 Tatum deserves 30, and Drew deserves 10.

30:49 No, you have one.

30:50 So unless you disagree with the final result, there's no use in complaining about how we

30:58 got there, you know what I mean?

30:59 And that was pretty prevalent, I think, with Stefflon, the unanimous MVP, and then people

31:04 not even getting a vote for all defense, or MVP, or whatever it is.

31:09 I'm just saying I was kind of surprised that no one voted for Drew, because I thought he

31:13 was certainly a candidate, and it would have been deserved if he did win it.

31:18 But to me, watching these guys play, I totally agree with you.

31:23 I think JP has really stepped into that leadership role, and I think it's a big reason why the

31:27 Celtics were okay moving on from Marcus and Grant Williams, because those guys probably

31:34 had the loudest voices in the locker room, and they clearly weren't the team's best players.

31:40 And when you cut ties with those guys, there's a void that someone has to fill.

31:45 And maybe it took a while for JB to step into that, but he's here now, and I do think he

31:51 is, he's the most vocal guy.

31:54 Now it's different from how other players do it.

31:58 Like we talked about Edwards being mic'd up for game four, and he's awesome.

32:07 I'm sure it's hard for those guys not to be positive, and not to want to play extremely

32:13 hard because of how Edwards is, and his demeanor is, and what he's saying to his teammates.

32:19 It's all positive, it's all super confident, even though they were down 3-0.

32:23 This one might be a little bit different, but like you said, we've heard JB encouraging

32:30 his teammates, and even Tatum, who you would think, "Why does Jason Tatum need any encouragement

32:34 from anybody?

32:35 He's been top five MVP in first team all-NBA."

32:39 But I love hearing JB reminding him who he is, and again, it's another exhibit of how

32:46 those guys get along really well, despite what you may hear on certain television programs

32:52 like, "Oh, was Jason Tatum not excited enough for Jaylen Brown winning Eastern Conference

32:57 Finals MVP?"

32:58 That was, I think, a topic on a talk show today, which is just outlandish.

33:02 If you actually pay attention, those guys seem to get along really well.

33:06 Yeah, they get along.

33:08 I don't think they're best friends, which I don't know if you have to be at that point.

33:12 I've gotten mixed word on that throughout the year, and I got a lot of crap too, because

33:17 at All-Star, Durant's talking about, "Oh, the reason the Suns have worked is because

33:23 me and Booker, we spend a lot of time off the court, and we're best friends," and this

33:27 and that.

33:28 And so I wrote that, because I really don't think Brown and Tatum are the greatest friends

33:33 ever, which does it matter?

33:34 Does it not?

33:35 I don't know.

33:36 I still think that's up in the air.

33:38 But I think they've worked on their games.

33:39 I think they've worked on fitting together on the court.

33:41 I think they've addressed the relationship and just how they manage this team together.

33:45 And that's what matters here.

33:48 You can't force being best friends.

33:51 The reaction thing too, it comes down to how you want Tatum to react to it, because he

33:58 did congratulate Brown.

33:59 He said it's a great recognition and that sort of thing.

34:03 But there's not an emphatic response to the question there.

34:08 And that's just-

34:09 Is he emphatic about anything, Bobby?

34:11 That's what I'm trying to say here, is he's never really going to pour his heart out there.

34:15 Unlike Brown, who after game three is in the locker room, Tatum made some big plays.

34:20 That was huge.

34:21 And you'd love to hear Tatum say that about Brown and be like, "This is amazing.

34:28 He got snubbed for all NBA, and this is the recognition he deserves," and this and that.

34:32 That's what we want, but that's not who he is.

34:34 And so it's just going to come down to, does that dynamic work for them to win the championship

34:39 here?

34:40 And it seems like it does so far to this point.

34:42 There's some awkwardness on the court, but I don't think that's because of their relationship

34:48 or anything like that.

34:49 I think it's because Kawhi and George and some of these other wing duos, they play the

34:52 same position.

34:53 There's a little overlap there sometimes, and it can be tough for them to play off each

34:57 other because there's no pick and roll combination with them or anything like that.

35:00 So I think that's the whole Brown-Tatum story there.

35:04 I totally agree.

35:05 I am a firm believer you do not need to be best friends with your coworkers to produce

35:09 great things.

35:11 And if you look at NBA history, I feel like that's been the case.

35:16 Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, I don't think those guys are cheersing right now.

35:20 Well, that's the important thing, right?

35:22 Because hating each other, as maybe those guys verged on, or Kobe and Shaq certainly

35:28 reached, can be disruptive.

35:31 And these guys don't hate each other, certainly, here, which I think is the important thing,

35:34 because that's what leads to breaking up.

35:36 And to this point, I was going to position this to you, because I'm trying to figure

35:41 out where Tatum's at in his career, where he's going here.

35:45 And they go to the finals two years ago, they lose, they don't get back the next year.

35:51 And then along the way, you're thinking, "All right, are Tatum and Brown going to break

35:55 up?

35:56 Do they have to make some moves here to shake up this core?"

35:59 That sort of thing.

36:00 And that's what the Thunder did, right?

36:02 After they lost their finals when they were young and weren't ready yet.

36:06 And that screwed them.

36:08 And you even look at some of the other young duos, I kind of compare Halliburton and Fox

36:12 to them, too.

36:13 Because you're kind of just floating along, you're not quite there yet, and then you just

36:19 trade Halliburton for the hell of it.

36:20 And it gets you to the playoffs, but now you don't have that star-star duo that has that

36:25 championship level ceiling there.

36:28 So they keep these guys together.

36:31 They're back now.

36:32 It looks like they can win a championship at this point.

36:35 But you're still looking at the duo here and you're like, "All right, Brown's rolling.

36:39 Tatum's having some of these struggles earlier in the playoffs.

36:41 And now Tatum's starting to come around a little bit."

36:43 And we talk about the leadership dynamic here, too.

36:45 And it just kind of reinforces, if we're comparing Tatum to someone, in my mind, it's Durant.

36:52 Because he's quieter.

36:55 He has this great shot-making ability.

36:58 I think Tatum's maybe even surpassed Durant a little bit as a playmaker at this point,

37:02 which has been important because he doesn't have that big, big ball-dominant point guard

37:07 here.

37:08 And so I wonder who you're comparing Tatum to at this point in his career and where he's

37:14 going here.

37:15 Because I think it's Durant.

37:19 He has this tone setter next to him.

37:21 Maybe for Durant in Golden State it was Curry, it was Draymond, and he's just able to go

37:26 out there and make shots and make plays because you have these other tone setters around him.

37:30 So that, to me, is where I see him at right now.

37:33 And it's interesting just because he's slowly starting to come out of that slump a little

37:36 bit here, which is important because I think he needs to play at a high, high level in

37:40 the finals for him to win here.

37:42 But he's got these other pieces around him that he can trust.

37:45 And so who does Tatum need to be is kind of the question I'm getting at here, Drew.

37:49 Does it change every night?

37:51 Does he need to be that scorer?

37:53 Does he need to be the guy who just does it all and maybe isn't the big, big scorer every

37:57 night?

37:58 I think that's the question we've been asking the whole playoffs.

38:00 Who is he?

38:01 Who does he need to be?

38:02 Yeah, I think he's a tough one to come up with a historical comp for just because of

38:09 how his career has unfolded.

38:12 Joining a really good team as the third pick, and I know they weren't this good when he

38:17 first got in the league, but being part of a good team and one with championship aspirations

38:23 as the third or fourth best player, and then evolving into the go-to guy on a championship

38:30 level team, it's just, there aren't that many guys I feel like who have done that.

38:35 And it's part of the reason why I think some of the discourse around his career is a little

38:41 bit unfair, because he's a victim of his own success in a lot of ways, where it's like

38:46 this guy, it feels like he's been around in the Eastern Conference Finals forever, but

38:52 he's still only 26.

38:54 And of course, his age has been a long-running narrative, and "Hey, remember he's 19," when

39:00 he dunked on LeBron, "Hey, remember he's 20."

39:03 But I do think it's actually more important than ever to remember his age right now, because

39:09 this is the time when your best player is supposed to start winning championships.

39:15 I would challenge anybody who thinks Tatum has been disappointing, or whatever word you

39:21 want to use, to go back in NBA history and find me a team where the best player was younger

39:26 than 26.

39:28 I think it's really hard to do.

39:30 Even the best players in NBA history, they just, they don't really, I guess modern NBA

39:35 history, like you look at a Kareem-

39:37 Magic.

39:38 Maybe, yeah, Magic, but he wasn't even the best player on that team, like Kareem was

39:42 at that point.

39:43 Kareem with the Bucks, maybe, but Big O was on that team.

39:47 So to me-

39:48 You guys come out of college later in that era and things like that, because Tatum comes

39:52 into the league at 19.

39:53 And the league was thinner, so it's different now.

39:57 So I think you look since MJ, people just don't really do that, where they win a title

40:02 when they're super young.

40:05 So I think he's on course, man, I really do.

40:08 And if he had entered as the alpha, and everybody knew it with the Celtics team, then maybe

40:16 people wouldn't freak out about every bad Tatum playoff performance.

40:20 Right, and so that's where I get a little stuck with him, because does he know who he

40:25 is?

40:26 Does he know who he needs to be any given night?

40:29 Or is it just going to change any given night?

40:31 Because that's a tricky thing.

40:33 He's perfectly built to be a guy who, "I can get 15 rebounds tonight, that's my job.

40:40 The screening, that's my thing tonight.

40:42 I'm going to go do that.

40:43 Maybe I'm shooting 40%, but I'm doing all these other little things."

40:46 And that's been the story of his run so far, because he hasn't been a lethal, efficient

40:51 scorer.

40:52 But he can score 50 in a game seven.

40:55 He's capable of that.

40:56 And three-point shooting, it's not always there for him, but when it's there, it's there

41:00 in droves.

41:01 So it's not like he's Giannis or Jokic, who are a little more limited from three, but

41:05 he's also not like Curry and Durant from three either, one of those elite, elite all-time

41:10 guys from out there.

41:11 So I think that's the tough part with covering him, is he's always in a different place.

41:16 And I don't think we've really ever seen a superstar who that's their mold.

41:21 He can do anything on the court, and it's going to be something different every given

41:24 night.

41:26 But the scoring is what you look at, because that's kind of who he came into the league

41:29 as and who he built himself as.

41:32 But it feels like he's kind of moving on from that.

41:35 Unless Brown leaves here down the next couple of years, or the dynamic of the team really

41:40 changes, it doesn't feel like he's the kind of guy who needs to score 30 points a game

41:45 anymore.

41:46 He needs to trust and involve his teammates.

41:48 He needs to be a passer.

41:49 He needs to defend.

41:50 And he needs to do all these little things.

41:52 And unfortunately for him, and I think this is probably the hard part that he's trying

41:56 to balance right now, you don't get all the glory for doing little things or things that

42:02 maybe don't even appear on the stat sheet.

42:05 Thirty points per game is what gets you the glory.

42:08 Fifty percent shooting is what gets you the glory here.

42:11 And maybe that's why he might have deserved the East Finals MVP here, because Brown was

42:17 the tone setter, right?

42:18 Brown had the big moments.

42:20 But if you look at MVP as, "You take this guy off the court, you're losing the most,"

42:26 it's undoubtedly Tatum, just because he's impacting so many areas of the game here.

42:30 So that's where I think Joe's done the best job this year, is really getting Tatum to

42:37 internalize, "Do everything.

42:41 Doesn't matter if you're shooting 40 percent.

42:43 Doesn't matter if you have 30 points.

42:44 If you do everything, we're going to be good."

42:47 And it feels like he's internalizing and believing in that, which is huge.

42:52 And he did score 30 plus, I think, in three of the four Eastern Conference Finals games.

42:58 And a lot of that was an overtime in game one.

43:00 But that's the thing, Bobby, is game one's a perfect microcosm of what you're talking

43:05 about, where he was not great scoring the ball for most of regulation.

43:12 And then in overtime, he just takes over.

43:14 And he's game seven against Philly, Jason Tatum.

43:18 So I think you're right.

43:21 He's evolved as a player where he's always been this dynamic scorer with a very deep

43:26 bag, sometimes a bag that we don't want to see.

43:28 We don't always want to see 10 seconds of dribbling into a step back, which looks really

43:33 cool if you make it, but it's a pretty low-percentage shot.

43:35 We don't always want to see that, but he's always had that.

43:40 Now it's rounding out his game, better playmaker, doing more rebounding.

43:46 I thought it was funny earlier this year when you were probably in the scrum when somebody

43:50 asked him about potentially averaging a double-double, and JT was like, "Shit, I'm 6'9".

43:56 I hope I can get 10 rebounds a game."

43:58 And he was hovering around.

43:59 He's a great rebounder.

44:01 And when he's rebounding and leading the break, that's when he's at his best and when the

44:07 team is at their best.

44:09 And with the way that this group is assembled, he doesn't have to score 40.

44:15 He doesn't even have to score 30 sometimes.

44:17 So I think he's done a nice job allowing himself to sink into this perfect mix where we've

44:27 talked a lot about sacrifices all year, and mostly with Al coming off the bench and Holiday

44:30 shooting less.

44:32 But Tatum's points per game was down a little bit this year too.

44:36 So he's had to sacrifice as well.

44:39 And without that, I don't think it would work as well as it has.

44:44 Absolutely.

44:45 And in a week, they're going to get a chance to win their first championship here, which

44:50 is pretty exciting.

44:52 I'm looking forward to being back at the finals, being around it.

44:54 It's a really cool atmosphere.

44:57 Have you been around the finals yet, Drew?

45:00 No, this will be my first one.

45:03 Yeah, it's pretty cool.

45:05 It is pretty cool.

45:08 So I want to give one more quick shout out here to our sponsor, PXG.

45:13 Go over there.

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45:15 It's golf season.

45:16 Memorial Day is around.

45:17 This is the one I want, Bobby.

45:18 Do I get a discount now?

45:20 I think this would fit you well, Drew.

45:21 Are you a golfer?

45:22 Yeah, I play a little bit.

45:23 I'll hit the little white ball around sometimes.

45:26 I actually got the shirt right here.

45:28 Hold on.

45:29 Is this a PXG shirt?

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46:24 PXG.

46:25 So let's turn the focus toward you a little bit here, Drew.

46:28 How was year one?

46:30 By the way, just to put a bow on that, the best club in my bag is a 54 degree wedge from

46:36 PXG that my dad got me for my birthday.

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46:51 Yeah.

46:52 To answer your question, Bobby, the first season was, it was a whirlwind, man.

46:58 It was a dream come true.

46:59 It was sick.

47:01 It helps that the team is so good.

47:03 I'm sure you feel the same way about this, but it makes the job more fun, more rewarding,

47:10 and frankly, a little bit easier when the team is winning.

47:15 Especially in my role where, you know, I don't technically work for the Celtics, but you

47:20 know, part of NBC Sports Boston is owned by the Celtics.

47:24 And you know, it's more fun to be around the guys when the team is winning.

47:28 And you're always going to be honest with the viewer about how the team is performing.

47:34 And when they're the best team in the league, there's not a whole lot to criticize and that's

47:40 always fun.

47:41 So I'm grateful that the team was so good in my first season.

47:45 And one of the most rewarding parts of it has been working with Scal and Abby and Eddie

47:52 House and Cedric Maxwell when he comes on, Chris Forsberg, Tom Giles and Mina before

47:56 she left.

47:57 Like it's a really, really good group.

47:59 So I feel like we have an amazing team covering an amazing team.

48:04 And being part of that has been really, really cool.

48:07 And the most important thing to me coming in, and we talked about this, was that Celtics

48:12 fans could still enjoy watching the game and listening to the announcers, even though the

48:21 end of an era is upon us with Mike leaving.

48:24 So I hope that people feel like they can do that.

48:29 And I hope they're ready and will embrace, you know, Scal and me together, bringing them

48:36 the stories of their favorite team, because that doesn't, I don't take that lightly.

48:40 You know, I know how important it is.

48:42 I know how much of a relationship the fans have with the announcers specifically of this

48:46 team.

48:47 So it's really important to me that people can enjoy it.

48:50 That's what you're gearing up for next year, all 82 with Scal?

48:53 That is the plan, minus the 12 we lose for the national exclusive because they take the

48:57 max every year because everybody wants to watch the Celtics.

49:01 People want to watch the Celtics so much that the national networks will still put our games

49:05 on TV, even if we also have the local broadcast.

49:10 But that's just how much the Celtics move the needle nationally.

49:13 It's the team that you either love or you love to hate.

49:16 I guess what you make up for that is the first round of the playoffs that you get to do at

49:20 that point.

49:21 So that'll be big for you this next year.

49:25 Obviously Gorman got to handle that this year in his finale.

49:27 They had the big day for him, which was really cool being in the building for that against

49:31 the Wizards, I think there for the finale.

49:34 You said coming into this year, you didn't want to like try to beat Gorman.

49:39 Obviously you got to be around him a lot this year and listen to him and watch him closely

49:43 and all those different kinds of things as you kind of prepared to take over from him

49:47 here.

49:48 What was ultimately the benefit you feel like of being around him, talking to him, trying

49:54 to feel out your style this year, but also learn from him and pull from things that he

50:00 was kind of doing there in his last year, however much you've watched him at this point?

50:05 First of all, one of my favorite things about this season is how perfectly it all fell for

50:13 Mike's farewell, where his last regular season game, I thought the Celtics did a great job

50:19 of celebrating him.

50:22 And then his last game period was at home, finishing off a rival, and he got a chance

50:28 to sort of say his final farewell.

50:32 And obviously he's still around and still see him and Terry at the garden and I met

50:36 his granddaughter.

50:37 So it's been really cool.

50:39 I feel like everything has worked out as it should have and the way that Mike deserved

50:46 after everything that he's given to the team.

50:49 And in terms of what I've learned being around him, Mike Gorman never forces anything.

50:57 Mike Gorman lets it come to him.

51:00 He's one of the coolest dudes you'll ever meet.

51:02 And I think his approach to life, his warmth with everybody he meets and interacts with,

51:12 and his focus on the other person as opposed to himself translates to what you hear on

51:19 the air, where Mike will never make the game about himself.

51:23 He'll never get in the way of the analyst or the sideline reporter.

51:28 He was the perfect counterpart to Tommy and I think Scal as well.

51:33 I feel like that's translated.

51:36 And that's what I've learned, Bobby, because coming into this first season, being so new

51:43 to the Celtics fan base, obviously I want people to like me.

51:47 And I think there are probably times where I did force it, wanted to hit that perfect

51:53 ball, have that moment where Celtics fans embrace me.

51:58 You can't force that.

51:59 It's got to happen organically.

52:01 And so I've picked that up, watching Mike, being around him, listening to him on the

52:06 broadcast.

52:07 And I think that's going to be a really, really good lesson.

52:10 And hopefully I'm doing this as long as he did.

52:15 That's truly my goal.

52:17 So maybe one day I'll hit a point where I can look back and say, the fans like me and

52:27 enjoy listening to me because I didn't try too hard to achieve those goals.

52:33 That's the best way to do it.

52:36 One of our commenters mentions this too.

52:37 I wasn't going to hit on this, but obviously we lost Bill Walton yesterday, another broadcasting

52:43 icon, along with all the other great things he did in his basketball career there.

52:50 Did you ever cross paths with Bill during the years, even at ESPN there?

52:54 Do you just kind of enjoy him as a viewer?

52:56 Yeah, I never met Bill.

52:58 I do work for ESPN.

52:59 I've been there for about three years now, but I never met Bill.

53:03 I have a lot of mutual friends, like all the Qs guys, obviously Dave Pasch is a friend,

53:08 he's a good friend.

53:11 And so I've talked with them a little bit the past couple of days.

53:15 And I think even if you didn't know Bill Walton personally, you can still be inspired by how

53:21 he lived.

53:23 All the stories and listening to those guys and Jackie McMullin and Charles Barkley and

53:27 Shaq and everybody, they talk about the joy he had for life and how he loved other people.

53:37 And I think all of us can have a little Bill Walton inside of us where people say they

53:43 walked away from a conversation with him feeling better about themselves and better about the

53:47 world.

53:49 And I think Bill probably did a better job than anybody of letting that out and putting

53:55 joy into the world.

53:57 And I think we can all do a little bit more of that.

53:59 So the last couple of days, I've been thinking, like if something frustrates me, like I did

54:04 an early pregame show for game four, and I sucked.

54:08 And I thought it was one of the worst shows I've ever done.

54:10 And I was pissed and I did a really bad job of responding to it like I was upset.

54:15 And then I was thinking like, damn, I should be a little more like Bill Walton right now.

54:19 I should be grateful for the opportunity and excited about the next one, as opposed to

54:24 letting it get me down and affecting how I treat people around me.

54:27 So anyway, I think there are a lot of lessons we can learn from his life.

54:31 Yeah, absolutely.

54:32 Rest in peace, Bill Walton should be a lot more great tributes to come.

54:37 Definitely recommend people go look at Rick Carlos pregame from the game for as well.

54:41 A lot of good stories there and everywhere else.

54:43 Drew Carter, thanks for being here.

54:46 Great to recap your first season and look ahead to the finals here.

54:48 I'm sure we'll cross paths along the way and shout out to our guy O'Shea Brissett, who

54:54 I guess is if he gets into the finals here, going to be the first Syracuse player to play

54:59 in the finals in 44 years.

55:01 Is that actually true?

55:03 I think so.

55:04 So Dion Waiters was there with the Lakers in 2020.

55:08 So this is where I get a little confused.

55:10 He didn't play.

55:11 So it has to be like played in the finals, I guess.

55:15 And it's possible.

55:16 O'Shea could get in there for Zingas is out.

55:18 Stay out for the first game, KP, or just don't play the first half.

55:24 That's been pretty cool this year.

55:25 You know, obviously having you here along for the ride, but also being on the team as

55:29 well as a real Syracuse presence on this.

55:31 I mean, look at this.

55:32 I recently ran into this photo on my phone the other day.

55:35 This is from November of 2019.

55:38 For those watching who don't know, Bobby and I were in school when O'Shea was there.

55:43 So like I sort of knew the guy at Syracuse and now it gets covered five years later.

55:47 I found this photo.

55:50 It's in reverse, but I think the the official Cuse MBB account put this out and I was like,

55:56 that's dope.

55:57 I'm going to make that my wallpaper.

55:58 Now it's my dog, but this is a cool photo.

56:02 I got a good one too.

56:03 He was on the New York Daily News cover when they beat Michigan State, Xavier Tillman's

56:10 Michigan State.

56:11 And yeah, he was on the cover here.

56:19 That's so good.

56:20 That team was fun, man.

56:21 That sweet 16 run.

56:22 Yeah, Tyus Battle, Elijah Hughes, who's a guest here a lot.

56:28 What a good guy from that team.

56:31 Marek Dolzhai.

56:32 One of my favorite players ever, Marek Dolzhai.

56:36 I'm bummed he didn't get a shot at the G League, NBA, whatever.

56:39 I guess he's doing good overseas.

56:41 He'd be a great Celtic, wouldn't he?

56:43 The fans here would love him.

56:45 Yeah, obviously everyone remembers his charge take on Zion.

56:49 It almost killed him.

56:51 I know.

56:52 Fun times, man.

56:53 Fun times.

56:54 Great having you here.

56:55 Great talking to you, Drew.

56:57 We'll catch up after the finals, see how this goes.

56:59 Appreciate you taking the time here.

57:01 And of course, congrats on year one and good luck to all the years ahead for you here in

57:06 Boston.

57:07 Thanks, buddy.

57:08 Always a pleasure.

57:09 See you soon.

57:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Celtics Play by Play Announcer Previews NBA Finals | Garden Report

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