Your Morning Dump... Where Pierce comes back to get his old shoes

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

I was amazed to learn that JJ (eqp mgr) had held pairs of never-worn Pierce shoes @ both Waltham & Garden, waiting for Paul, just in case… pic.twitter.com/Hwo1uzCbIS

— Mike Zarren (@mikezarren) July 17, 2017

JJ kept a jersey at TD Garden, too. https://t.co/ckwIOIJub7

— Jay King (@ByJayKing) July 17, 2017

You can say a lot about Pierce, and a lot of people have said a lot about him over the past few months.

I’m just gonna sit back and enjoy that pic. It’s like the guy never left.

Couldn't resist the parquet https://t.co/RAU8UGx9cr

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 17, 2017

It was a heckuva run.

Pierce had this to say in the Celtics’ press release:

“The organization and city took me in and made me one of their own, and I couldn’t imagine ending my career any other way. I’m a Celtic for life.”

Celtics.com

And a little while later, Pierce backed up that statement in an Instagram live session

Paul Pierce during his Instagram live session on the common today: “That Tatum kid, he’s going to be real. … I like that kid.” pic.twitter.com/fWUKkeELPo

— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) July 18, 2017

‘We back.’

And that whole business of being a ‘Celtic for life’–that means something.

I mean, JJ Conor kept two pairs of shoes on hand for Pierce and a home jersey for him at the Garden–just in case.

And, in a way, I think all of us fans did the same thing. Sure, ‘he called game’ for the Wizards, and he never got an ovation louder than he did as a Clipper, but even with all that, he was always a Celtic–he still had that jersey waiting for him back in the garden.

And while I’m thinking about it, let’s all enjoy Pierce’s loudest cheer:

Bonus!

Fans of addition have probably picked up these details from the timing of Pierce’s retirement already:

7/17/17

17 championships

17 + 17 = 34.

Page 2: Where LeBron is ‘frustrated’

Gilbert’s decision left the Cavs without the franchise’s top two front-office execs at a critical time, and it left James frustrated and concerned about the team’s ability to put together a roster that can better compete with Golden State, the person with direct knowledge of James’ thinking told USA TODAY Sports. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

USA Today

See, this is what’s wrong with LeBron James.

LeBron wants to have a say in the team’s affairs while maintaining plausible deniability when the actions he has passive-aggressively lobbied for blow up in his face.

If LeBron wanted Griffin to stay around, where would he be?

Hint: Where are Tristan Thompson and JR Smith?

Where is David Blatt?

What LeBron refuses to acknowledge is that Cleveland is sitting on a huge pile of contracts that nobody else wants. Yeah, he can talk, anonymously, about how he’s ‘concerned’ about what the Cavs are or are not doing, but the bottom line is this: What did the Cavs have to offer either Chicago or Indiana for Butler or George?

Here is a brief, but comprehensive list:

Kevin Love

And why is Kevin Love on the market? Because after insisting on trading Wiggins for him, and then insisting that he get a huge contract, LeBron has marginalized him and reduced his apparent value to significantly less than his paycheck–enough less that even very stupid front offices like Chicago’s aren’t falling for it.

Essentially, the Cavs are what they are now because they did everything a guy who has zero experience working with the salary cap and constructing a roster wanted.

Of course, it’s not just them. Probably the first sign that Riles had lost it was that decision to draft Shabazz Napier based on this tweet:

No way u take another PG in the lottery before Napier.

— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 8, 2014

LeBron is well on his way to becoming Norma Desmond–and it’ll be interesting to see what sort of damage he convinces the Lakers to do to themselves when he bolts for the coast next year.

Finally: The Kings are also trolling the Lakers

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/887114727146405888

Look, when you’re the Kings you can either remember exactly where you are in the NBA’s pecking order and keep your mouth shut–or you can say, ‘screw that–we’re going to stir the pot.’

From the video above, you can see which route Sacramento has chosen to take.