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.
NBA players under 21 can’t legally drink or go to nightclubs while in Sin City for Summer League, so Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown is bringing some clean fun their way on Monday night.
The second-year player confirmed to The Undefeated that he is hosting “Jaylen Brown’s Welcome to the NBA Night” at an undisclosed location. The goal of the gathering is for selected rookies and young players to bond, meet mentors and exchange ideas. Brown is paying more than $5,000 of his own money for the event, a source told The Undefeated.
“There are a lot of young guys here, and there is nothing to do in Vegas if you’re under 21,” the 20-year-old Brown told The Undefeated. “I just want to do something. Hang out, talk to them. Build relationships. I’m not 21. [Celtics teammate] Jayson [Tatum] is not 20. A lot of the draft picks are young.
I love this on so many levels. Not the least of which is Jaylen’s apparent earnestness about players not being able to get into clubs because they’re under 21. Like, ‘these poor guys–like myself, they’re probably all just sitting in their rooms watching TV or at the gym getting up baskets every night.’
More to the point, in reading the article, you can get a pretty good idea of why the Celtics were happy to pick him up in the draft last year:
So what advice would Brown give a rookie entering the NBA now?
“One of the main things you need to know is nothing is guaranteed,” Brown said. “Fight for everything that you can. Nothing is given to you. Even if it appears given to you, it’s not. You have to scrap for everything, because there is somebody coming behind you and there is somebody in front of you.”
Brown’s long-term goals?
Brown has dreams of being a future president of the NBPA. The position is currently held by Houston Rockets veteran guard Chris Paul.
“That’s something that I’ve always had my eyes set on,” Brown said. “It’s a great position, and I think there is a lot of change that could still be made in the league. I don’t want to say too much … but I think I could be a great advocate for the players and represent the league well one day.”
I think the Celtics have gotten two players with a lot of potential in Tatum and Brown. I know ‘7-11’ has been the nickname of choice. John favors “Raining J’s” for the obvious promotional tie-in. Me? I think they should be called ‘the back-to-back threes.’
But really, the best part of Jaylen hosting that event is that it prompted the best tweet of July 10, 2017:
Jaylen invites all the young talent in the NBA over. Halfway through the doors lock. Rains of Castemere starts playing. Marcus Smart enters.
— Jayson al Gaib (@Handsome_Jake_) July 10, 2017
Page 2: Ron Nored talks Stevens and Hayward
Nored paused about where he most notices the growth in Stevens.
“Man, kind of like Gordon, he was always pretty good,” he said. “The thing about going from college to the NBA, you know the relationship building would be different because it was a different environment. But Brad didn’t change. That’s what’s made him good at this level is that he’s still good at building those unique relationships.”
First of all, if you’re wondering where Ron Nored is these days, he’s coaching the Long Island Nets, the G-League affiliate of, well, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?
Anyway, Mark Murphy caught up with Ron for an extended interview. Ultimately, people talk about Stevens and Hayward at Butler, and maybe forget that was seven years ago. That’s a long time for guys who are now 40 and 27, respectively. Both seem to have made good use of the intervening time.
And in this narrative-fueled media environment, Hayward + Stevens winning a title after that oh-so-close miss is the kind of stuff Disney makes movies about. Of course, reality is a lot more complicated. Both Stevens and Hayward have had their share of tragedy connected with their Butler teammates and coaches, and Hayward had to make a really tough decision to leave Utah–and not for a ‘guaranteed’ ring, a la Durant, but just for another shot–depending on how the chips fall for the C’s over the next few years.
Finally: Just stop.
“(The Celtics are), of course, a little ahead of us,” he said. “Danny (Ainge)’s done a great job, when you think about drafting and (Gordon) Hayward, who is . . . the guy just knows how to play, you know? And you put him in with (Isaiah) Thomas. You put him in with all the rest of the great players that they have. And then I think you’ve got one of the best young coaches in all of basketball in Brad (Stevens), and we feel like we have a great young coach (Luke Walton).
“So we got young talent; they have young talent. They’ve got a little bit more with (Al) Horford and Hayward, the veterans who are stars, especially Hayward. And then hopefully next summer we can add something to our roster. So I think it’s going to come together.
…
“So you see them trending up and, again, we’re trending up as well. I like our young team, so it’s exciting.”
Ugh. Can we stop pretending, can we just, please, please, stop pretending that the Lakers are ‘catching up’ with the Celtics?
What we have here is a team that has drafted in the top five for like four consecutive years because they are terrible. And their picks? Randle, Russell, Ingram and Ball are, from left to right, ‘meh’, gone, ‘who knows?’ and baggage.
They have bad contracts and their one strategy, their absolutely only strategy, is “let’s convince big free agents to sign here.” It’s like watching some guy hit 00 in roulette, and then lose every penny he won by betting 00 over and over, because it really paid off that one time (in Los Angeles’ case: Shaq)
The Lakers need a wholesale roster transplant, quite possibly a different coach, competent owners, and perhaps a different GM as well. Of all of the things that one needs to build a successful organization, the Lakers have almost none of them. Yeah, they might sign Paul George next year, but who cares? Paul George didn’t win anything with the Pacers, and the Pacers are a better team than the Lakers were last year.
I mean, people give James Dolan a deservedly hard time, but what is the difference between him and Jeannie/Jimmy Buss? None of those three people have the foggiest idea how to do anything, but they’ve got all the confidence that a pile of inherited money can buy. Granted, Dolan is the worst of the bunch, but it’s only a matter of degree, they all belong to the “born on third base and thought they hit a triple” club.
The rest of the links:
Boston Herald: Bulpett: Jayson Tatum’s maturity earning notice at Celtics summer league
Boston.com: Aron Baynes is the Celtics’ new center—and he has a serious love of barbecue | Losing Avery Bradley hurts, but Gordon Hayward’s Celtics will be fun to watch
P.S. Can someone tell me what the heck just happened in that pic? Jaylen appears to have resigned to a kid who captured three pawns, two bishops, the queen and a rook while moving nothing more than his queen, his queen’s pawn and his queen’s knight. I mean, if that’s the result of a legit game, Jaylen got his butt kicked.
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